In a dramatic escalation on Saturday, January 3, the United States launched a military attack on Venezuela, setting off a chain of events that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro was taken into custody and later flown to New York, according to multiple reports.
The Venezuelan president and first lady are expected to face trial as early as Monday on charges including narco-terrorist conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons offences.
Maduro is currently being held in a prison in Brooklyn that has been criticized for its conditions. The facility is reportedly so problematic that some judges have refused to send people there, even though it has housed high-profile inmates like R. Kelly and Sean “Diddy” Combs, the AP reported.
Which famous people are locked up in a Brooklyn jail?
Known as the Metropolitan Detention Center or MDC Brooklyn, the prison opened in the early 1990s and currently houses about 1,300 inmates, including alleged gangsters, drug dealers, and some people accused of white-collar crimes.
The facility is claimed to be a routine landing spot for people awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Among those currently in prison are Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, and Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
Previous inmates included crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried and Ghislaine Maxwell, a close and longtime associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A general view shows the Metropolitan Detention Center (AP)
Maduro is not the country’s first president to be held in prison. Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, was also locked up at MDC Brooklyn while he faced trial for smuggling massive amounts of cocaine into the United States. He was later convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison, but was pardoned and released by Donald Trump last December.
Why is the prison considered “problematic”?
The prison, which is within sight of the Statue of Liberty, has been described as “hell on earth” and “an ongoing tragedy” at worst.
Detainees and their lawyers have consistently complained of extreme violence in the premises. In 2024, two prisoners were killed by other prisoners. There are also reports of prison staff accused of accepting bribes or providing contraband, the AP reported.
During the winter of 2019, a power outage left the facility and its inmates without light for nearly a week, forcing them to ensure complete darkness and cold, the report said.
The suicide of Jeffrey Epstein adds to the negative image of the place
In prison, Maduro is likely to meet some familiar faces, which may include other high-profile inmates, but that can only happen if he is allowed to leave the isolation facilities where he will initially be housed. These sections are designed to keep new or high-risk detainees separated from the general population, at least at the beginning of their stay.
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The Brooklyn prison has come under increased scrutiny starting in 2021 after the Bureau of Corrections closed its other New York prison, the Metropolitan Correctional Center, following Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide. The incident exposed serious problems, including its lax security, crumbling infrastructure and dangerous, dirty conditions.
Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges and died by suicide while in prison awaiting trial, sparking widespread controversy and scrutiny of prison conditions and surveillance.
(with agency inputs)
