Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are apparently having to get used to their new daily life at the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
"It's truly hell," federal prison consultant Sam Mangel told CNN.
"There is very little heating. Each prisoner gets a wool blanket. They have a thin mattress," he added.
Venezuela's ousted president and first lady are the latest high-profile prisoners held at the federal prison known as MDC, with a documented history of power outages, staff shortages and prisoner complaints.
CNN was unable to determine exactly how the couple is being treated. Neither prison officials nor lawyers representing the couple have disclosed anything.
Mangel, as well as a former federal prison official and a defense attorney with clients housed at MDC, spoke about the challenging prison conditions and how high-profile detainees are typically treated in such an environment.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not comment on current inmates, but Mangel said Maduro and Flores are likely housed in a segregated area, not with the general population - in separate, solitary cells.
"In his case, he poses a security risk to the general population," Mangel said.
“Nobody knows what other inmates might think of him, other gang members, other cartel members, so putting him out into the general population at any time… I think it would be an extraordinary security risk to the institution.”
Before their capture by the US military, the couple had lived in the Miraflores Palace, a vast presidential residence known for its neoclassical architecture, large windows, grand halls and well-kept courtyards.
They are now among detainees who include a mix of suspects and defendants, including people accused of serious crimes, high-profile cases and others awaiting sentencing or transfer.
In their first court appearance in New York, Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges and chose, at least for the time being, not to fight for their custody.
Maduro and his wife probably don't have regular contact with each other unless they both have their meetings with their lawyers scheduled at the same time, according to Hugh Hurwitz, who headed the Bureau of Prisons from May 2018 to August 2019.
Hurwitz made his assessments based on his experience as acting director of the federal prison system.
Life for prisoners separated from the general population includes a 6 a.m. wake-up call, scheduled time to meet with their attorneys each day, outdoor exercise and daily visits from health personnel, according to the Bureau of Prisons manual.
“Prisoners in the prison’s Special Housing Unit, known as the SHU, where Maduro is likely being held, are being held in solitary confinement in restrictive conditions,” said Daniel McGuinness, a criminal defense and civil rights attorney who represents several clients held at the MDC.
Inmates spend up to 23 hours locked inside their cells with restrictive escort protocols in place when they leave them and have limited access to legal phone calls, according to a Justice Department report.
"I don't know if they're keeping him locked in his cell 23 hours a day ... but he's definitely in a secure unit where no one can meet him," Hurwitz said.
"I'm sure they're keeping him separate from the other prisoners. If they're putting him with someone, it's someone they've vetted and know won't be a problem," he added.
In fact, MDC, described by lawyers and prisoners alike as “disgusting” with “horrible” conditions, is a dangerous place, where in 2024 two prisoners were killed by other prisoners using improvised weapons, according to federal prosecutors. /Telegraph/
