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The wife of former Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was set to be back in court Thursday, where her lawyers will urge a judge to free her from jail and put her under house arrest because she has heart problems<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n NEW YORK — <\/span>The wife of former Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was set to be back in court Thursday, where her lawyers will urge a judge to free her from jail and put her under house arrest because she has heart problems.<\/p>\n Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores<\/a> have been behind bars in New York since early January when forces seized them from their Caracas home<\/a> in a middle-of-the-night raid. <\/p>\n Both have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought<\/a> six years ago against them and numerous alleged co-conspirators. They face potential life prison sentences if convicted of being part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.<\/p>\n Their attorneys have asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.<\/p>\n Lawyers for Flores, 69, have also argued that she has medical issues that cannot be treated effectively in jail, and that she could instead be allowed to live under 24-hour guard at a residence in New York.<\/p>\n They also said she suffered permanent scarring when she was \u201cthrown against a wall or dresser\u201d during the U.S. military action that led to her capture.<\/p>\n Her lawyers say she has lost 25 pounds while imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has been told that she might need heart surgery. They said she also suffers from \u201clingering lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath” and might have suffered a minor heart attack in July.<\/p>\n Prosecutors opposed the bail request. In a court filing, they wrote that Flores would pose an \u201cextreme risk of flight and danger to the public\u201d if released. They also said she has been taken from the jail to get treatment at a local hospital, when care was needed.<\/p>\n