Maduro Trial Start Date Set for June 2027

Oral arguments for pretrial motions are set for November 2026.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro speaks during the Meeting of Jurists in Defense of International Law at the Eurobuilding Hotel in Caracas, Venezuela, on Nov. 14, 2025. Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP

NEW YORK CITY—Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York set the trial date of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro for June 1, 2027, at a status hearing in district court in the borough of Manhattan on July 22.

At the 13-minute hearing, Hellerstein agreed to the joint proposed timeline of pretrial motions. Oral arguments for pretrial motions are set for 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2026.

Maduro’s defense team and U.S. federal prosecutors on July 21 filed a rough outline of the possible next steps in one of the most significant criminal cases in recent U.S. history.

Hellerstein expressed concern over the time needed to litigate classified materials, which he would need time in advance to review. Attorneys for Maduro and for the government confirmed that the current schedule is realistic, with litigation surrounding classified material handling to take place on March 11, 2027, but agreed that they may require further changes to the schedule.

American special forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas, Venezuela, during a raid in the early hours of Jan. 3. They were brought to New York City to face the charges, to which they have pleaded not guilty.

Maduro has been charged with narcoterrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.

In 2020, Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials were charged with narcoterrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, and other charges in New York City, Miami, and Washington.

According to the filing, both sides proposed a Sept. 2 deadline for Maduro’s initial legal motions to dismiss the case, arguing that he should be free from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.

After prosecutors transfer any classified evidence for the defense’s review, Maduro would then file a second round of legal motions by Jan. 11, according to the filing.

Maduro led Venezuela between 2013 and this past January. The Trump administration accused Maduro of participating in a narcoterrorism scheme.

During his Jan. 5 court appearance, where he and his wife pleaded not guilty, Maduro referred to himself as a “prisoner of war.” He has long blamed the United States for seeking his ouster to get more control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

The United States has labeled Maduro a corrupt dictator, saying that his handling of the Venezuelan economy led to an economic downturn, and has accused him of rigging his reelection votes in 2018 and 2024. In 2019, Washington stopped recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate president.

A federal jail in the borough of Brooklyn has held Maduro and Flores since they were brought to the United States.

Reuters and T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.