Alex Saab was set to walk into a federal court in Miami this week. Saab is 54 years old. He was born in Colombia. Over the years he became a close ally of Venezuela's ousted leader, Nicolas Maduro.
Saab was set to appear on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. He would stand before Judge Kathleen Williams. Court papers call it a change of plea hearing. That means Saab was expected to say he is guilty. No one shared the plea details ahead of time. Saab's lawyer, Neil Schuster, would not comment.
The case says Saab paid bribes to win big food contracts for Venezuela. He faces one count of money laundering. That charge says people hide where dirty money came from. The case says Saab and others set up fake companies. It says they faked shipping papers too. The plan took money from food contracts. Those contracts brought food from Colombia and Mexico into Venezuela.
Saab's case goes back many years. The United States first charged him in 2019. That was during the first Trump term.
Agents caught up with Saab in Cape Verde. His plane had stopped there for fuel. Venezuela's government said Saab was on a food and aid trip to Iran at the time.
Later, President Joe Biden gave Saab a pardon. That pardon did not end his legal trouble. This new case came soon after.
Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, sent Saab back to the U.S. in May 2026. She did it under pressure from the United States.
Cases like this look like other money cases El Tejano covers close to home. Dirty money and fake papers tend to follow the same path.
Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.
