A U.S. federal jury has been deadlocked for nearly a week in the “Maletagate” trial. ''We cannot reach a unanimous verdict," said a note handed from the jury to Judge Joan Lenard on Wednesday. Her response today advised the jury to keep trying to find a verdict or else the case would be declared a mistrial.So what is the “Maletagate” case all about? According to Bloomberg:
(Defendant Franklin) Duran, 41, is accused of working as an agent in Florida for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government without registering with U.S. authorities. He is also charged with conspiring to silence Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson, a U.S. resident. Prosecutors said Antonini carried $800,000 in a suitcase from Venezuela to Argentina in 2007 to help presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was elected Oct. 28, 2007. The cash was seized at a Buenos Aires airport.Duran’s attorneys argued that the accusations are untrue and that Duran was set up by the FBI.
Chavez and Kirchner have refuted the allegations of corruption with the Argentine president calling the case “garbage.”
Image- AP (“In this court room illustration, Carlos Kauffmann, the business partner of defendant Franklin Duran, is seen on the witness stand, left, as Duran is seen on right in a Miami courtroom Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008.”)
Sources- Bloomberg, AP, miamiherald.com, washingtonpost.com, BBC News
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