A U.S. pilot, Michols Orsini, has pleaded guilty to violating American sanctions by transporting former Venezuelan oil minister Tareck El Aissami, who is accused by the United States of drug trafficking. Orsini admitted to one count of conspiracy to violate sanctions at a hearing before a U.S. District Judge in Manhattan.
Orsini stated that agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security visited his home in 2018 after he had flown El Aissami between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. At the agents’ request, he called his boss at a Florida-based firm that chartered flights for El Aissami between 2017 and 2019 to discuss flying the oil minister.
Orsini revealed that the agents recorded the call and told him he could continue to fly El Aissami as long as he informed them, but he did not report several subsequent flights out of fear.
El Aissami was sanctioned by the United States in 2017 for alleged involvement in drug shipments out of Venezuela, including to the United States and Mexico. The United States charged El Aissami, Orsini, and others with criminal sanctions violations related to the flights in 2019 as part of its efforts to pressure Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro to resign. Maduro has faced accusations of corruption, human rights violations, and election rigging, which he denies. El Aissami has denied any wrongdoing.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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