Ex-Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and wife scheduled for June 2027 drug trafficking trial

Published July 22, 2026 3:35pm ET | Updated July 22, 2026 3:35pm ET



Disgraced former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife are scheduled to stand trial June 1, 2027, on charges that they participated in a decadeslong conspiracy to flood the United States with cocaine.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old appointee of former President Bill Clinton, set the date Wednesday at the joint request of federal prosecutors and defense attorneys for Maduro and Cilia Flores. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges they face, including drug trafficking and possession of machine guns, and could face life in prison if convicted.

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