Federal prosecutors unsealed a revised indictment on Thursday, October 8, 2026, charging former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with torture conspiracy. The new charges allege that Maduro authorized the use of electric shocks, beatings, and asphyxiation against specific individuals to repress political opposition. According to the indictment, Maduro also personally threatened to kill the child of one prisoner as a form of psychological torture.
The couple has been in U.S. custody since January 2026, when U.S. military forces seized them from their residence in Caracas during a night-time operation. They were already facing federal charges in the Southern District of New York related to narco-terrorism and cocaine importation. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to those charges and have petitioned U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to dismiss the case, arguing they possess sovereign immunity as leaders of a foreign country.
The updated indictment states that Maduro oversaw a system of arbitrary detention and violence to maintain power by terrorizing perceived opponents. According to sources familiar with the case, the new charges involve the alleged torture of more than a dozen Americans who were classified as wrongfully detained by the Venezuelan government. Barry Pollack, an attorney for Maduro, stated he had not received prior notice that additional charges would be brought.
Separately, Flores appeared in court on Thursday for a bond hearing. Her legal team requested her release to house arrest under 24-hour guard at a New York residence, citing heart problems and a 25-pound weight loss while detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Her lawyers stated she may have suffered a minor heart attack in July and noted she sustained permanent scarring during her January capture. A trial for both Maduro and Flores is tentatively scheduled for June 2027.
A person following this case would notice a shift in the legal focus from international drug trafficking and weapons charges to specific allegations of human rights abuses and the treatment of U.S. nationals. The defense's pursuit of sovereign immunity addresses the ability of the U.S. judicial system to prosecute former foreign heads of state seized during military operations. If the judge denies the immunity motions, the case will proceed toward a 2027 trial date, maintaining the detention of the former Venezuelan leaders in New York.
The prosecution is supported by recent cooperation from Alex Saab, a former Venezuelan minister of industry who pleaded guilty to money laundering in September and agreed to assist federal investigators. The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the latest filings. The next major steps include the judge's ruling on the immunity motions and the continuation of pretrial hearings in the Southern District of New York. A tentative trial date remains set for June 2027.