New York City’s federal jails have seen their fair share of high-profile inmates, but none quite like Nicolás Maduro, who until a day ago had access to a presidential palace.
His status likely means protection from the general population in Brooklyn’s federal Metropolitan Detention Center, but could also lead to difficulty in obtaining private counsel, experts told CBS News.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, could be arraigned as soon as Monday, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, adding that they’re expected to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, to be housed.
Marc Fernich represented notorious drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was held at a federal jail a few miles away in Manhattan, and other high-profile inmates such as Jeffrey Epstein. He said Maduro may require isolation for his own safety.
“If Maduro is placed in round-the-clock solitary, it will be for his own protection or to guard against suicide,” Fernich said. He added that the Brooklyn jail currently houses many members of one of Venezuela’s most well-known transnational gangs.
“There’s a heavy Tren de Agua population at MDC. That may affect his confinement conditions — where and how he’s housed — there,” Fernich said.
Jonathan Savella, who represents clients in international drug trafficking cases, said Maduro may face speed bumps assembling a legal team.
“Payment won’t be straightforward and no suitable attorney will get involved until that’s worked out,” Savella said, adding that, at least at first, Maduro might need to rely on court-appointed counsel.
“I assume the big firms that do, or hope to do, business in Venezuela won’t touch the case because of conflicts,” Savella said.