The Maduro torture charges unsealed in New York on 8 October 2026 accuse Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores of conspiracy to commit torture. The added count carries a maximum of 20 years and no mandatory minimum. Maduro denies it through his lawyer, and the trial remains set for 1 June 2027.
What the New Count in the Maduro Torture Charges Alleges
The added count is conspiracy to commit torture, brought against both defendants in the same case. Everything in it is an allegation that has not been tested at trial.
The Justice Department says in its release, numbered 26-1160 and issued on 8 October 2026, that the two allegedly ran a system of repression using the military, intelligence services and security forces, and that the conduct spans “more than two decades”, with violence and repression occurring “since at least 1999”. Nicolás Maduro Moros, 63, was president of Venezuela from 2013 until January 2026. Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, 69, is a lawyer and former president of Venezuela’s National Assembly.
The charging document runs to 30 pages, CBS News reports. According to its account of the indictment, prosecutors allege Maduro ordered opponents detained and tortured, received updates on interrogations, and at one briefing about a prisoner said to “squeeze them harder”. It also alleges that in 2014 he proposed abducting between five and seven suspected military officers to be tortured for information, and that Flores agreed. Flores is separately alleged to have helped build the system and to have ordered torture in some instances.
The methods alleged include electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells and psychological threats against victims’ families. The Justice Department’s own release describes one United States citizen allegedly subjected to deprivation of food and water, simulated drowning, repeated beatings, electric shock and forced injections.
The Five Counts and What Each One Carries
The torture count is the fifth in the case, and by maximum penalty it is the least severe of the five. The Justice Department’s release sets out the following structure, noting that these figures are set by Congress for information only and that any sentence is for the judge to decide.
| Count | Charge | Mandatory minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| One | Narcoterrorism conspiracy | 20 years | Life |
| Two | Conspiracy to commit torture (new) | None stated | 20 years |
| Three | Conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States | 10 years | Life |
| Four | Using, carrying and possessing machine guns and destructive devices in relation to those conspiracies | 30 years | Life |
| Five | Conspiring to use, carry and possess machine guns and destructive devices | None stated | Life |
A superseding indictment is a revised charging document that replaces an earlier one in the same case, rather than a separate prosecution. The four existing counts were unsealed on 3 January 2026, the day Maduro was taken into United States custody in Caracas; that document also named four other Venezuelan nationals, including Diosdado Cabello Rondón.
The Justice Department release quotes Attorney General Todd Blanche saying the additional charges show a dedication to “delivering justice for the victims of torture, narcoterrorism, and organized crime”. United States Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York said the defendants allegedly conspired to commit torture, including of United States citizens, alongside the narcotics and weapons offences.
How Many Alleged Victims, and Who Says So
The figures circulating do not all count the same thing, and no official source has published an exact number of alleged torture victims.
- The Justice Department release: refers to “multiple United States citizens” subjected to torture, and details the allegations of one of them without naming him.
- The indictment, as reported by Reuters: details alleged torture of nine people in total, of whom three are United States citizens.
- FBI Director Kash Patel: said the regime tortured “over a dozen American citizens”, a figure quoted by CBS News.
- CNN: ties the case to the wrongful detention of more than a dozen United States citizens in Venezuelan prisons, which is a count of detentions rather than of alleged torture victims.
Reuters reported that the identities of the alleged torture victims were not immediately available. The nine-person figure comes from one news agency’s reading of the document and has not been confirmed in an official release. Readers comparing numbers across coverage are mostly comparing a detention count with a victim count.
What the Defendants and Their Lawyers Say
Both defendants deny the allegations, and neither has yet been arraigned on the new count.
Maduro’s attorney Barry Pollack said, in a statement reported by CNN and Reuters, that “President Maduro denies the charges in the new indictment and looks forward to his day in court”. Earlier in the week Pollack told CBS News he had been given no notice that additional charges were coming. Lawyers for Flores, named in reports as Mark Donnelly and Andres Sanchez, said their client denies the allegations.
Flores’s counsel asked the court to put off her arraignment on the torture count because the indictment had arrived that morning, and the judge allowed the delay. Both defendants had already pleaded not guilty to the four earlier counts at their arraignment on 5 January 2026. At that first appearance, contemporaneous reports say the couple accused the United States of abduction. No statement from the government in Caracas responding specifically to the 8 October filing had been verified at the time of writing.
The same hearing dealt with bail. Flores’s lawyers argued for release on strict conditions because of a heart condition; prosecutors opposed it, calling her an “extreme” flight risk. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused, saying that given the money and the contacts involved, “the risk is serious” and “there’s no combination that will make it less serious a risk”. One CBS News report attributes the bail ruling to a different judge, Henry J. Ricardo; Reuters and CNN attribute it to Hellerstein, who presides over the case.
Where the Case Stands
As of 9 October 2026, the case is at the indictment stage in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, with no finding of guilt on any count.
- 3 January 2026: Maduro and Flores were taken into United States custody in Caracas, and a superseding indictment on narcotics and weapons counts was unsealed.
- 5 January 2026: Both pleaded not guilty at arraignment in Manhattan.
- 22 July 2026: Judge Hellerstein set the trial date on a schedule jointly proposed by both sides.
- 8 October 2026: The superseding indictment adding the torture count was unsealed; Flores was refused bail and her arraignment on the new count deferred.
- 25 May 2027: Final pretrial conference.
- 1 June 2027: Trial is scheduled to begin.
Both defendants are held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The prosecution is handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Kaylan E. Lasky, Henry L. Ross, Kevin T. Sullivan and Kyle A. Wirshba, with a trial attorney from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
What Has Not Been Decided
Several things in this case are open, and the coverage of the new count does not settle any of them.
Nothing in the indictment has been proved. The Justice Department’s own release states that an indictment is only an allegation and that defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. An allegation in a charging document is not a finding by a court.
The defence has signalled a challenge to the court’s power to hear the case at all. Pollack said he would argue sovereign immunity, the principle that shields a foreign head of state from prosecution in another country’s courts, and reports in mid-2026 indicated a motion to dismiss on that ground was planned with argument expected in November 2026. Whether that motion was filed on schedule, and how the court will rule, is not established in the public record reviewed here.
Also unresolved: the identities of the alleged victims, the exact number of people the indictment says were tortured, whether further defendants will be charged over the same alleged conduct, and whether the June 2027 trial date holds. Investigators have been reported as considering charges against additional people in connection with the alleged torture of Americans.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Maduro Torture Charges?
One count of conspiracy to commit torture, added against both Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in a superseding indictment unsealed in New York on 8 October 2026. It is an allegation that has not been tried.
How Long a Sentence Does the Torture Count Carry?
The Justice Department’s release gives a maximum of 20 years for conspiracy to commit torture and states no mandatory minimum. Three of the other four counts in the case carry maximum terms of life.
Has Maduro Responded to the Torture Allegation?
His attorney Barry Pollack said Maduro denies the charges in the new indictment and looks forward to his day in court, according to CNN and Reuters. Flores’s lawyers also say she denies the allegations.
When Is the Trial?
1 June 2027, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, with a final pretrial conference on 25 May 2027. The date was set in July 2026 and could still move.
Where Are Maduro and Flores Being Held?
Both are in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. The court refused Flores bail on 8 October 2026 on flight-risk grounds.
