Venezuelan first lady’s nephews plead not guilty in NYC
In this courtroom sketch, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, seated second from left, has an emotional reaction as he is flanked by his attorneys while appearing with his cousin Franqui Francisco Flores De Freitas, far right, in Manhattan federal court at their arraignment on cocaine-smuggling charges, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in New York. Campo Flores and Flores De Freitas, both nephews of Venezuela’s powerful first lady Cilia Flores, entered not guilty pleas to an indictment charging them with conspiring to import 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. They were arrested last month in Haiti and brought to the United States where they are being held without bail. AP Photo
NEW YORK, United States—One of two nephews of Venezuela’s powerful first lady had an emotional reaction in a Manhattan courtroom as the pair entered not guilty pleas to U.S. cocaine-smuggling charges, his lawyer said.
READ: US charges nephews of Venezuela first lady over drugs
“He’s nervous. He’s terrified,” attorney Kafahni Nkrumah said outside court after his client, Efrain Campo, 29, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty.
Nkrumah described his client’s emotions after he was asked outside Manhattan federal court why Campo seemed to be crying as he waited for the brief hearing to begin.
“He’s a young man who’s been forcibly detained in our country facing very serious drug charges, charges that could get him a significant amount of time in prison,” Nkrumah said. “So he’s understandably very, very nervous.”
Campo and Francisco Flores, 30, entered not guilty pleas to an indictment charging them with conspiring to import 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States. The charge carries a maximum potential sentence of life in prison. Each wore headphones during the proceeding to listen through a translator.
Campo and Flores were arrested last month in Haiti and brought to the United States. Law enforcement sources say they are the nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores. Both were being held without bail.
The next hearing in the case was set for Feb. 29.
The court appearance came a day after authorities revealed that two high-ranking military officials are named in a sealed federal indictment in New York accusing them of colluding with cocaine traffickers.
The revelation prompted an angry response, with Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino denouncing what he called a “smear campaign against the Bolivarian Armed Forces.” On Thursday, the foreign ministry accused the U.S. of “judicial terrorism.”
“Venezuela expresses its deepest rejection of U.S. foreign policy which, through judicial and police terrorism conducted by national agencies and through global media campaigns, pursues, threatens and pressures the exercise of authority in Venezuela,” a statement said.
The United States has been increasing pressure on high-ranking members of Venezuela’s socialist government as their country has become a thriving transit zone for narcotics destined for streets in the U.S. and Europe.
Several Venezuelan officials, including a former defense minister and head of military intelligence, have been indicted or sanctioned.
