‘I’m Thinking of El Chapo’: Elie Honig And Erin Burnett Discuss What Maduro’s Trial Will Look Like

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig previewed what’s to come for captured-and-indicted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro while Erin Burnett noted the case had her thinking in terms of former drug lord “El Chapo.”

Honig joined Burnett following President Donald Trump’s press conference on the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as well as strikes overnight on Venezuelan capital Caracas. Trump said the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for a period while Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the mission as a law enforcement capture of two-indicted fugitives, thus not needing congressional approval.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Saturday statement that Maduro and his wife have been charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.”

Marduro’s election victory was previously slammed as illegitimate by the United States and others around the globe.

Honig said Maduro and his wife will be treated procedurally the “same as any other criminal defendant,” with an arraignment in New York likely coming in a matter of days.

Maduro was previously indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism charges. A new superseding indictment accuses him and others of abusing “their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States” for 25 years.

According to the indictment, Maduro and others teamed up in 1999 with international drug traffickers to transport cocaine to the United States. Maduro’s capture followed the U.S. striking numerous boats, officials alleged were carrying drugs.

Honig said on Saturday:

As sensational as this case and these charges are, Nicolas Maduro, his wife and his son, among the three other defendants, will now be treated essentially procedurally the same as any other criminal defendant in our civilian courts. Now this case has been indicted in the southern district of New York, which includes Manhattan, the Bronx, and some of the northern counties. The next step in this process, first of all, there will be an initial appearance. There will be an in-person, in-court arraignment, probably within the next working day or two, I would guess Monday or Tuesday at the latest. The rules say you need to get someone in front of a judge quickly. They will be advised of the charges against them, the narcoterrorism charges, the drug importation charges, and the weapons, firearms, and bomb charges that have been lodged against them. They will enter original pleas. They will almost certainly plead not guilty at this point.

Honig said he’s appeared before the judge assigned to the case, Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

Burnett brought up how exactly Maduro will be held, citing the case of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, a former major Mexican drug lord now serving a life sentence after being extradited to the U.S. in 2017.

“So then where do they likely stay locked up, right? We know high profile– I’m thinking of El Chapo. Remember when he was briefly actually in a facility in downtown Manhattan. Where exactly will they be? And how long does a case like this, right, and we’re taking the case now itself separate from what’s happening in Venezuela itself. How long does the case like, this take to go through the system?” Burnett asked.

Honig said Maduro will likely be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, but warned the trial will not be speedy as 25 years could cover millions of pages of discovery.

He said:

I’d imagine there’s millions of pages in the discovery. Maduro, like any defendant in our criminal courts will have the ability to make motions. I’m sure he will seek to have evidence suppressed. I’m Sure he will ask the judge to dismiss the cases. And then ultimately you will have a trial. But even in an ordinary, let’s say large-scale drug trafficking case, Aaron, you typically would not expect to see trial within six months or so. I think you’re looking more like along the lines of a year, maybe a year and a half.

Watch above via CNN.

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