Korean-American Sandy Rhee Appointed as Key Witness Attorney in Maduro Drug Case

The attorney representing Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, the former general and close associate of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who was indicted alongside him, has been identified as a Korean immigrant. The attorney in question is Sandy S. Rhee, a specialist in international narcotics cases.

Sandy S. Rhee, U.S. Attorney. Provided by the individual.

Carvajal, also known as "El Pollo" (Spanish for "the chicken"), had been pursued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Justice for nearly 20 years on charges of overseeing the distribution of several tons of cocaine smuggled into the United States and Europe. He is considered a key figure who could provide decisive testimony against President Maduro, who denies the allegations.

Sandy S. Rhee is Carvajal's defense attorney. Born in Seoul, Rhee immigrated to the United States in 1974 at the age of five and later became a naturalized citizen. She graduated from the Richmond School of Law in Virginia in 2001 and obtained her Virginia State Bar license the same year. She is also licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C.

As of this year (2026), Rhee is a veteran with 26 years of experience, specializing in white-collar crime cases. Fluent in both English and Spanish, she has handled numerous international narcotics cases and extradition cases involving suspects from Mexico and Central or South America.

According to documents submitted by Rhee to the U.S. court, she currently operates a private law office in Great Falls, Virginia. She takes on and handles cases independently, without any associate attorneys or partner colleagues. She does not run a separate law firm website or engage in advertising. In a conversation with a Legal Times reporter via email and online messenger, Rhee stated, "I take on cases solely through 100% client referrals," adding, "I accept cases based on the deep trust I have built with my clients."

Although she is a "solo practitioner," Rhee has handled high-profile cases. Representative cases include one involving a senior member of the Mexican drug cartel known as "Scorpion" (U.S. v. Juan Manuel Abouzaid El Bayeh), another involving the leader of an organization that conspired with some of the world's largest drug syndicates, including those in Mexico, to smuggle drugs into the United States (U.S. v. Raul Flores Hernandez), and a case related to the procurement of large quantities of precursor chemicals for drug manufacturing by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Mexico (U.S. v. Javier Algredo-Vazquez).

Given that the main charge in President Maduro's case is drug trafficking, it appears that Carvajal highly valued Rhee's expertise and included her in his defense team. However, regarding this case, Rhee expressed caution to Legal Times, stating, "My client (Carvajal) is a potential witness unfavorable to President Maduro," and added, "I cannot comment on the specific details of the ongoing case."

Carvajal's activities trace back to the previous Chavez administration under President Maduro. The activities of the criminal organization "Cartel de los Soles," in which Carvajal was deeply involved, were cited as a key reason by the Trump administration on January 3 for the sudden extradition of President Maduro and his wife to the United States. Chavez was the former president of Venezuela preceding Maduro. The Cartel de los Soles derives its name from the sun insignia patches on Venezuelan military uniforms.

Carvajal was arrested in Spain in 2021 and extradited to the United States under an arrest warrant issued in 2014. He pleaded guilty in June 2025. On December 2, 2025, Carvajal sent a three-page letter to President Donald Trump and the American people, stating, "I will atone by revealing the complete truth so that the United States can protect itself from the dangers I have witnessed for years," expressing his intention to cooperate with the investigation. In the letter, Carvajal revealed, "I personally witnessed the transformation of the Chavez administration into a criminal organization," and "the organization is currently run by senior officials of the Venezuelan regime, including Maduro." He further emphasized, "The drugs entering the United States through new routes are not merely the result of simple corruption or independent smugglers; it was a deliberate policy systematically orchestrated by the Venezuelan regime targeting the United States."

Kim Jisoo, Legal Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.