Summary: Court records show that Venezuela’s ousted president Nicolas Maduro has added Anna Estevao of Harris Trzaskoma to his U.S. defense team. Estevao previously served on the legal team for hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Maduro, who has pleaded not guilty to U.S. narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges, is detained in Brooklyn pending trial.
Nicolas Maduro has retained Anna Estevao, an attorney from the law firm Harris Trzaskoma, as part of the legal team defending him against narcotics-related charges brought by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to court filings made public on Thursday.
Estevao was among the lawyers who worked on the defense of Sean 'Diddy' Combs at his trial, where the team secured acquittals on serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges that, if sustained, could have resulted in life sentences. At Combs' trial, Estevao conducted cross-examination of a key prosecution witness, Casandra Ventura, and introduced emails and text messages from early in Ventura's relationship with Combs to challenge the witness' account.
Combs was ultimately convicted on two lesser prostitution-related counts and is serving a 50-month sentence at a federal facility in New Jersey. He is appealing both his convictions and his sentence.
Maduro has pleaded not guilty to the U.S. narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges against him. He is currently jailed in Brooklyn while his case proceeds toward trial.
Estevao’s addition to Maduro’s team came two days after the firm Harris Trzaskoma announced that Barry Pollack, Maduro’s Washington-based defense lawyer, had joined the firm. Pollack had previously been affiliated with another firm, Harris St. Laurent.
Maduro is scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan on June 30 for a hearing at which his attorneys are expected to present the pre-trial motions they intend to file in an effort to have the charges dismissed. Pollack has indicated he is prepared to challenge the legality of what he described as Maduro’s 'abduction' by U.S. forces during a January 3 raid on the Venezuelan leader’s residence in Caracas.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, which brought the charges against both Combs and Maduro, declined to comment.
Contextual notes: The court filings naming Estevao and announcing Pollack's move to Harris Trzaskoma are the basis for the recent additions to Maduro’s U.S. defense team. The upcoming June 30 hearing is expected to focus on pre-trial legal strategy and motions.