- The credibility of the witnesses is of great importance in the case.
- Two of the three court convictions have been annulled.
- Conspiracy to import cocaine among Maduro's charges.
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro returns to a US court on Thursday accused of criminal charges including narcoterrorism, a statute that has rarely been tested in court and has a limited track record of success.
Maduro, 63, led Venezuela from 2013 until his capture in Caracas by US special forces on January 3. He pleaded not guilty on January 5 to all US charges against him.
The 2006 law in question, enacted to combat drug trafficking linked to activities the United States considers terrorism, has produced only four convictions in court, one Reuters shows a review of federal court records, and two were later overturned over issues arising from witness credibility.
The mixed record highlights what could be a central challenge for prosecutors in the Maduro case: persuading jurors that evidence from cooperating insiders credibly establishes a conscious link between alleged drug crimes and terrorism.
“The lesson of these two cases is not that the narcoterrorism statute is unworkable,” said Alamdar Hamdani, a partner at the Bracewell law firm and former federal prosecutor in Houston.
“The most demanding element of the statute – proving the defendant's knowledge of the nexus to terrorism – requires a quality of evidence and a standard of procedural diligence that leaves no room for institutional loopholes, misspellings of names or uncritical acceptance of what his witnesses tell him,” he said.
Prosecutors have not yet revealed who will testify against Maduro. But a former Venezuelan general charged alongside Maduro told Reuters he is willing to cooperate.
Maduro accused of helping Colombian rebels
Congress created the narcoterrorism statute 20 years ago to target drug traffickers who finance activities the United States considers terrorist. Since then, 83 people, including Maduro, have been accused of raping him. Thirty-one pleaded guilty to narcoterrorism or lesser charges, eight are awaiting trial and dozens are not in U.S. custody, according to the review.
The conviction reversals do not affect Maduro's case, and defendants in those cases faced additional charges that were not overturned. Maduro also faces three other charges, including conspiracy to import cocaine.
Maduro, a socialist, is accused of leading a conspiracy in which officials in his government helped move cocaine through Venezuela in collaboration with traffickers, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the United States designated a terrorist organization from 1997 to 2021. Maduro and his fellow accused officials have always denied wrongdoing, saying the U.S. charges are part of an imperialist conspiracy to harm Venezuela.
His lawyer, Barry Pollack, did not respond to requests for comment on the narcoterrorism law trial file or possible witnesses against Maduro.
A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on the same issues.
The law defines terrorism broadly.
Narcoterrorism carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, double the minimum sentence for regular drug trafficking. Both can result in life in prison.
The narcoterrorism law defines terrorism as premeditated and politically motivated violence against non-combatants.
“If you take the legal definition of terrorism and terrorist activity, you can paint a pretty broad picture of the type of activity we're talking about,” said Shane Stansbury, a professor at Duke University School of Law and former federal prosecutor.
To convict Maduro, prosecutors must show that he knew that the drug trafficking he allegedly facilitated resulted in a financial benefit to a group that engaged in activities that the United States considered terrorist, even if it had other goals.
“It doesn't have to be the motivation,” said Artie McConnell, a former federal prosecutor and current partner at the BakerHostetler law firm.
In the first narcoterrorism trial in 2008, an Afghan with alleged ties to the Taliban was convicted of helping a DEA informant buy opium and heroin. But in 2021, a judge dismissed the narcoterrorism charge after an appeals court ruled that his lawyer did not adequately challenge the only witness linking him to the Taliban.
In another case, a jury deadlocked in the 2011 trial of an accused Afghan trafficker. He was convicted in a second trial in 2012, but the narcoterrorism charge was dismissed in 2015 after prosecutors acknowledged that a U.S. government agency considered the cooperating witness who linked him to the Taliban a “fabricator.”
The conviction in the 2015 narcoterrorism trial of a Colombian for attempting to ship cocaine for the FARC and attempting to purchase weapons for the group has been upheld.
A fourth narcoterrorism trial resulted in a guilty verdict earlier this week.
Case could hinge on cooperating witnesses
Legal experts say the government's case against Maduro could include testimony from two former Venezuelan generals charged alongside him in 2020: Clíver Alcalá and Hugo Carvajal. Both pleaded guilty to charges related to their dealings with the FARC, but neither agreed to cooperate at the time of their pleas.
In a telephone interview from the federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland, Alcalá said he was willing to cooperate. But he said prosecutors had previously insisted that he admit involvement in drug trafficking, which he denies, as a condition of cooperation.
“I cannot, to reduce my sentence, declare myself a drug trafficker when I am not one,” he stated.
Alcalá retired from Venezuela's military shortly after Maduro took office in 2013. He later became an outspoken critic of Maduro's government.
When asked if the charges against Maduro were true, Alcalá said he thought there was “some basis” and that he believed Maduro had ties to a drug trafficker imprisoned in Caracas. He did not offer details.
Alcalá, 64, is serving a sentence of almost 22 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2023 to providing material support to the FARC. In court, he admitted to supplying weapons to the group, which he says he did on the orders of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but denied helping traffickers move cocaine.
Carvajal's sentencing is scheduled for April 16. His lawyer declined to comment on whether he would cooperate with prosecutors.
