Maduro ally Alex Saab expected to plead guilty in federal money laundering case

MIAMI -- A close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is expected to plead guilty Tuesday in a federal case that accused him of bribing officials to win lucrative contracts to import food at a time of widespread hardship in the South American country.

Alex Saab is scheduled to appear before Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami on Tuesday for a change of plea hearing, according to court records. The details of the plea were not immediately made public and Saab’s attorney, Neil Schuster, declined to comment.

Saab was deported in May by Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez in response to pressure from the United States, which has been investigating the Colombian-born businessman for more than a decade. He was charged with a single count of money laundering tied to an alleged conspiracy to create fake companies, falsify shipping records and skim from government contracts to import food from Colombia and Mexico.

Saab, 54, was previously charged during the first Trump administration in 2019 and then arrested during a refueling stop in Cape Verde on what the Venezuelan government described as a high-level humanitarian mission to Iran.

But President Joe Biden pardoned him in 2023 in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans in Venezuela. The deal, part of a failed effort by the Biden White House to lure Maduro into holding a free presidential election, was harshly criticized by Republicans and federal law enforcement officials, who immediately began investigating Saab for other alleged crimes not covered by the narrowly tailored pardon.

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U.S. officials have long described Saab as Maduro’s “bag man” and could ask him to serve as a character witness against the former president, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in Manhattan after being captured in a raid by the U.S. military in January.

The new U.S. prosecution of Saab and Maduro is taking place as the Trump administration overhauls relations with Venezuela, focusing its attention on tapping into Venezuela's vast oil reserves. This month, Trump announced what he called the “BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY” in Venezuela, a partnership by which the federal government will gain ownership in a new company with rights to drill in oil fields with a potential to produce 65 billion barrels.

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Durkin Richer reported from Washington.