The lawyers involved in the case against Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores
(CBS NEWS) – Sources from CBS say that Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in federal court in lower Manhattan on Monday for their arraignment on charges related to drug trafficking. They were brought to the U.S. on Saturday after being captured by U.S. forces in an attack that President Trump described as “a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” following months of military buildup.
Charges include narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine and narcotics importation/exportation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, among others. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old who has been on the bench since 1998, is presiding over the case.
Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to all charges. Maduro faces four counts, and Flores has been charged with three offenses. Four others are named in the indictment as co-defendants, including Maduro’s son and Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello.
Here is what to know about the lawyers for Maduro and Flores, and the prosecutors working on the case:
Maduro is represented by Barry Pollack
Maduro is represented by D.C.-based attorney Barry Pollack. Pollack is a seasoned trial lawyer who represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and a former in-house accountant for Enron. Pollack appeared in court alongside Maduro for the arraignment.
Pollack works for the firm Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP. He helped broker the plea deal that saw Assange plead guilty in 2024 to a single felony count for publishing U.S. military secrets.
According to his firm, Pollack obtained a complete acquittal of the former Enron Corp. executive, Michael Krautz, on criminal fraud charges. This was one of only two cases that resulted in acquittals in the numerous prosecutions arising out of the collapse of Enron.
His practice areas include cases involving public corruption and national security.
Flores is represented by Mark Donnelly
Mark Donnelly, a lawyer based in Houston, is representing Cilia Flores, according to a court filing.
Donnelly, who works for the firm Parker Sanchez & Donnelly, is licensed to practice in Texas. He worked for 12 years at the Justice Department, including as senior adviser to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. There, he led the office’s fraud division, according to a biography from his firm.
Donnelly also was a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Texas for eight years. There, he worked with the public integrity section and led investigations into elected officials.
His firm lists his areas of specialty as white collar criminal defense, business litigation, real estate litigation and whistleblower actions.
Donnelly is a proficient Spanish speaker, according to his law firm.
“Our client is in good spirits. We look forward to reviewing and challenging the evidence the government has,” Flores’ lawyers said in a statement. “While we would love to present our side now, we will wait to do so in court at the appropriate time. The first lady is aware that there is a long road ahead and is prepared.”
The United States Attorney’s Office prosecuting the case
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York is handling the prosecution for this case. The office is led by Jay Clayton and covers matters from Manhattan to the Bronx, as well as counties north of New York City.
Clayton, the top federal prosecutor for the region, signed the indictment against Maduro and his wife. He began serving as interim U.S. attorney in April, and in August, the judges on the U.S. district court voted to allow him to continue serving in the role. He will remain U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York unless the Senate confirms or Mr. Trump selects another candidate to replace him.
Clayton served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration. He was a partner at the firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP before joining the SEC, and returned there after his tenure at the commission ended in December 2020.
Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped Clayton in November to lead an investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with prominent Democrats and major financial institutions.
Amanda Houle, who is listed as one of the lead attorneys in the Maduro case, is the chief of the criminal division for the office. She returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office from private practice.
From 2015 to 2023, Houle worked in the Southern District of New York, including as chief of the Narcotics Unit and chief of the National Security and International Narcotics Unit, according to the Department of Justice.
Kyle Wirshba is also an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Wirshba has been with the office for more than eight years, according to Linkedin.
In 2020, Wirshba prosecuted a case against a former member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, who was charged with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons offenses. According to the Department of Justice, Adel El Zabayar allegedly worked with Maduro to distribute cocaine and weapons in coordination with terrorist organizations.
Michael Lockard is part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Lockard has handled cases involving the governments of Iran and China.
In one 2025 case that Lockard helped prosecute, two Eastern European organized crime leaders were convicted of “murder-for hire,” which targeted a U.S.-based journalist, according to the Department of Justice.
Nicholas Sutherland Bradley has been involved in the Maduro case since at least October 2023, according to court records. He’s also worked on other high-profile drug trafficking cases, including matters stemming from a 2011 indictment of more than five dozen gang members based in Yonkers, New York.
Court records show Bradley filing frequently for judicial permission allowing investigators to use pen registers, devices or processes that trace phone calls and other transmissions from specific phones or computers. Bradley filed for permission for dozens of pen registers in 2025. Court records offer few publicly available details about what, or whom, the registers were for.
