| Venezuela Anti Tren de
Aragua Defendants Spit at US
Marshals and Disrobe in SDNY
Courtroom
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
April 17 – Anderson
Zambrano-Pacheco, depicted
taking over an apartment
building in Aurora, Colorado
then arrested in a sweep this
week on Odgen Avenue in The
Bronx, was presented on
January 29 before U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrate Judge Jennifer E.
Willis. Inner City Press was
there - and was there again on
April 17 when more than 20
co-defendants disrobed and
spat at Marshals, see below. While
Zambrano-Pacheco through his
appointed Criminal Justice Act
lawyer consented to detention,
he expressed concern about his
safety in jail. His lawyer
cited press coverage and asked
for an order directing the
Bureau of Prisons to take
precautions.
Judge Willis after some back
and forth agreed to recommend
to BOP that they be mindful of
security concerns. On April 30, a
mass arraignment. Inner City
Press was there, thread: On February 13,
six more defendants were
added, five of them in
custody: " 27 members of the
Anti-Tren faction of the
designated foreign terrorist
organization Tren de Aragua
(“TDAâ€) with offenses
including racketeering
conspiracy, murder in aid of
racketeering in connection
with an April 15, 2024, double
murder in the Bronx,
murder-for-hire conspiracy,
kidnapping in aid of
racketeering, sex trafficking
and sex trafficking
conspiracy, and other
offenses. 21 of the 27
defendants charged in the S4
Indictment were previously
charged in a 12-count
Indictment. Of the six
newly added defendants, five
are now in federal custody."
And the sixth? On March 3 a
co-defendant in the case pled
guilty: "Plea entered by
Wilfredo Jose Avendano
Carrizalez (18) Guilty as to
Count 10s." On March 11
another defendant entered the
case, having been arrested in
Seattle on February 11.
Magistrate Judge Gary Stein
told him - his first name is
Danger - that is charged with
racketeering conspiracy with
"anti-Tren." He was detained
on consent. In the run up to
an April 17 status conference,
the Coordinating Discovery
Attorney docketed a status
letter about preparing to
distribute 277 hours of jail
calls, so large that only two
files at once can be opened,
and some files take an hour to
open. Then on April 17,
chaos. It was supposed to
start at 11 am in a large
courtroom on the 26th floor.
But down in the Ceremonial
Courtroom on the 9th floor,
Judge Vyskocil said, the
defendants were loud, then
some disrobed and spat at US
Marshals, one of whom had to
be taken to the hospital. The plan for the
day was changed, to two
sittings of those who needed
to be arraigned. Learned
counsel for those facing the
death penalty asked for their
own conference and will get
one. Watch this site. The first case is
USA v. Zambrano-Pacheco,
et al., 1:25-cr-76 (Vyskocil)
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Friday, April 17, 2026
Venezuela Anti Tren de Aragua Defendants Spit at US Marshals and Disrobe in SDNY Courtroom
