Miami judge orders $314 million in damages for three Americans tortured in Venezuela
The judgment holds Nicolás Maduro and other Venezuelan officials responsible for the kidnapping of three U.S. citizens who were used in a ‘hostage diplomacy’ swap for Colombian businessman Alex Saab
A federal judge in Miami ordered $314 million in damages to be paid to three U.S. citizens who were jailed in Venezuela and tortured by intelligence services before being released in 2023 as part of a swap with Washington for Colombian businessman and Nicolás Maduro associate Alex Saab.
Judge Darrin P. Gayles on Tuesday issued a default judgment against Maduro, Saab, other Venezuelan officials and the Cartel of the Suns after they failed to respond to a lawsuit filed in August 2025 in Miami. There was no trial because — although the defendants were served — they did not respond or defend themselves.
Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, was originally named among the defendants but was excluded from the judgment. According to The Associated Press, her lawyers asked in April to dismiss the case, arguing she had immunity as head of state against civil suits in the U.S.
The plaintiffs are Jerrel Kenemore, Jason Saad, and Edgar José Marval, along with several of their relatives.
The complaint alleges the three Americans were arrested and held as hostages to pressure Washington into freeing Saab, whom U.S. authorities have identified as a key financial operator for Chavismo. The court filing says Maduro launched a strategy of detaining U.S. citizens after Saab was captured and extradited to Miami on charges of conspiracy to launder money.
The three men were held at facilities of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence in Caracas. Kenemore was detained for 643 days, Saad for 560 days and Marval for 123 days. The complaint says all three were subjected to interrogations and torture that included beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, threats, and periods of isolation.
In Kenemore’s case, the filing details that he was deprived of food and water and subjected to various forms of psychological abuse. The order states he attempted suicide twice and continues to suffer panic attacks, anxiety, depression, stomach ulcers, and other ailments.
In Marval’s case, the complaint says beatings fractured his back and left him with chronic pain. Saad was bound by his hands and feet in a position that tore the tendons in his arm; he spent much of his captivity in isolation without adequate medical care and lost two teeth.
The complaint alleges Venezuelan counterintelligence routinely arrested, interrogated, and tortured its prisoners, and that the case of the three Americans was part of a Maduro ‘hostage diplomacy’ to pressure the U.S.
The court sided with the plaintiffs, finding the actions constituted acts of international terrorism under the federal Antiterrorism Act and intended to influence the conduct of the U.S. government. The defendants were also charged under Florida’s Antiterrorism Act and the federal RICO statute for organized criminal enterprises.
U.S. antiterrorism law allows American citizens who have been victims of international terrorism to seek damages. The judge used a formula to compensate each day of captivity at $20,127 per day, plus additional sums for the torture. The damages were then tripled, as provided by law. The court document does not identify specific assets to satisfy the judgment.
Tuesday’s ruling would be the largest award so far from several U.S. lawsuits filed by Americans who were imprisoned in Venezuela, according to The Associated Press.
The ruling linked the cases to the drug-trafficking charges against Maduro, saying the Cartel of the Suns and the other defendants provided “material support” to the former president.
Kenemore, Saad, and Marval were released on December 20, 2023, along with other Americans, in a swap for Saab, who was being held in Miami awaiting trial on money-laundering charges.
Venezuelan authorities moved the prisoners, hooded, to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where the exchange took place.
Saab is again in custody in Miami after being handed over in May by the Rodríguez government. He is accused of money laundering in an alleged bribery scheme to win multimillion-dollar contracts from the Venezuelan state food program CLAP, among other charges.
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