Federal prosecutors said George Semerene Quintero’s case showed Nicolás Maduro used the Venezuelan oil company to illegally funnel parts to maintain planes used by him and his cronies.

Despite U.S. sanctions, prosecutors say Venezuela’s state-owned oil company accessed aircraft parts from the U.S. such as bearings, joint slide flexes, and actuators for its aircraft fleet.

Politically connected billionaires from Russia and Venezuela are at the center of a 49-page criminal indictment that reads like a how-to guide on circumventing U.S. sanctions.

A one-time ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has pleaded guilty for taking $3.8 million in bribes to help steer lucrative oil contracts to companies tied to officials in Venezuela’s socialist government and military.

The Biden administration has renewed a license partially exempting Chevron from sanctions on Venezuela so it can keep operating in the oil-rich, socialist-run nation.

It offered rewards up to $15 million for Maduro and up to $10 million each for the others. “The Maduro regime is awash in corruption and criminality,” U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in an online news conference from Washington. It also could fragment the U.S.-led coalition against Maduro if European and Latin American allies think the Trump administration is overreaching. Maduro, a 57-year-old former bus driver, portrays himself as an everyman icon of the Latin American left. But the U.S. is among 60 countries that no longer consider Maduro a head of state even if he does hold de facto power.

In this June 19, 2019 photo, Luis Villamizar stands in a carrot field in a community near La Grita, Venezuela. Growing potatoes and carrots high in the wind-swept mountains of western Venezuela had always proven a challenge for Villamizar.LA GRITA, Venezuela - Growing potatoes and carrots high in the wind-swept mountains of western Venezuela had always proven a challenge for Luis Villamizar. It's a loss for sure," said Villamizar, 53, as he dug up potatoes darkened with spots from a damaging infestation. Across Venezuela, crops are spoiling in the fields - at a time of unprecedented hunger - as farmers become the latest casualty of the nation's deepening crisis. In rural places like the western state of Tachira, many manage to eke out livelihoods by tending to crops such as potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes and peppers.

In this June 19, 2019 photo, Luis Villamizar stands in a carrot field in a community near La Grita, Venezuela. Growing potatoes and carrots high in the wind-swept mountains of western Venezuela had always proven a challenge for Villamizar.LA GRITA, Venezuela - Growing potatoes and carrots high in the wind-swept mountains of western Venezuela had always proven a challenge for Luis Villamizar. It's a loss for sure," said Villamizar, 53, as he dug up potatoes darkened with spots from a damaging infestation. Across Venezuela, crops are spoiling in the fields - at a time of unprecedented hunger - as farmers become the latest casualty of the nation's deepening crisis. In rural places like the western state of Tachira, many manage to eke out livelihoods by tending to crops such as potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes and peppers.