(CNN Spanish) - One of the nephews of the wife of the questioned President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, Cilia Flores, appealed to the United States Supreme Court his sentence of 18 years in prison for conspiring to send 800 kg of cocaine to that country.
Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efraín Campo Flores were sentenced in December 2017 after being found guilty in federal court in Manhattan.
In its petition to the Supreme Court, the defense argues that the evidence presented by the Government is scarce, which maintains that the defendants were aware that the drug, originally intended for Honduras, would end up being transported to the United States.
"The only evidence cited regarding the alleged knowledge of Flores was that he and Campo remained silent - they did not ask for confirmation or clarification - when the DEA informants released hints that suggested the drugs were eventually going to be shipped to the United States," says the letter from the lawyers of Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas.
Efraín Campo Flores and his cousin Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas are nephews of Cilia Flores. The two were arrested in Haiti on November 10, 2015 by undercover agents of the DEA, the US anti-drug agency.
Since her arrest, the first lady of Venezuela has insisted that the DEA kidnapped her relatives and has been confident that "everything will be clarified."
Drug trafficking Nicolás Maduro
