Two nephews of the president of Venezuela were found guilty Friday of plotting to smuggle 800 kilograms of cocaine into the US.
A Manhattan federal court jury convicted Efrain Campo Flores, 30, and his cousin Franqui Flores de Freitas, 31, on conspiracy charges for trying to use their uncle President Nicolas Madura’s official airplane hangar to carry out the $20 million deal.
The panel of seven women and five men deliberated for about six hours.
“Nobody was in love with the witnesses. We clearly had some bad guys,” said juror Robert Lewis, 69, outside the courtroom about a slew of confidential informants who testified for the government.
Instead, he said the jurors looked to the dozens of recordings and text messages about the massive drug deal that eventually implicated the two men.
In what could’ve been a blow to prosecutors, their star witness Jose Santos-Pena saw his cooperation agreement get ripped up for lying on the stand about still being involved in drug-dealing.
But Lewis, an architect, said that hardly swayed jurors’ minds.
“He was slime,” he said.
Flores de Freitas’ lawyer David Rody declined to comment.
“We appreciate the jury’s consideration of the case. We’ll evaluate the next steps,” said Randall Jackson, who represents Campo Flores.
Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas are related to Madura through First Lady Cilia Flores.
They face up to life in prison.
