DNA on weapons incriminates former US Green Beret in attempted coup in Venezuela, federal officials say

MIAMI | Federal investigators say they have found the DNA of a decorated former U.S. Green Beret on some of the 60 automatic weapons he allegedly smuggled from Florida to South America as part of a failed coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2020.

The allegations were detailed in court documents filed days after Jordan Goudreau’s arrest last week and contain the strongest evidence yet linking him to the illegal arms trade that enabled the amphibious assault that ended with the deaths of several fighters and the years-long imprisonment of two of Goudreau’s former colleagues in U.S. special forces in Venezuela.

The plot, which the Associated Press uncovered two days before the invasion, was carried out by a ragtag group of Venezuelan deserters whom Goudreau allegedly helped provide weapons and training in neighboring Colombia. Goudreau later claimed responsibility for the coup but said he acted in collusion with the Venezuelan opposition to protect democracy. He also said he was in contact with the administration of then-President Donald Trump, which made no secret of its desire to get rid of Maduro, although there is no evidence that U.S. officials approved the invasion.

After Goudreau’s arrest in New York last week, a federal judge initially allowed filmmaker Jen Gatien to post her $2 million Manhattan loft as bail to secure Goudreau’s release. But prosecutors appealed, and it is now up to a judge in Tampa, Florida, where Goudreau was charged, to decide whether he should remain behind bars until his trial.

Prosecutors argued that Goudreau was a flight risk, presenting “overwhelming” evidence that he knowingly violated U.S. arms control laws and that he tried to go into hiding after learning he was under investigation. Those efforts included converting his bank accounts into cryptocurrency, obtaining a Mexican driver’s license and allegedly sneaking back and forth across the U.S. border into Mexico and Canada, where he was born and lived until he emigrated and joined the U.S. Army.

The Internet searches on Goudreau’s cell phone are said to have included questions such as “how to escape and hide from the authorities,” “how to be successful while on the run,” and “what happens if I flee from the law.”

Although the 48-year-old has no criminal record and was awarded the Bronze Star three times in Iraq and Afghanistan, prosecutors argued he was both a danger to the public and a flight risk because of his knowledge of weapons, his access to a sailboat at an air force base in Tampa and his monthly disability pension of $10,000.

“Goudreau did his research and acted on it, leaving the United States illegally and evading detection by law enforcement,” prosecutors wrote. “Now charged with serious offenses punishable by heavy prison sentences, Goudreau has every incentive and means to flee – this time for good.”

Gustavo Garcia-Montes, a lawyer for Goudreau, contradicted the prosecutor’s account of his client, pointing out that Goudreau voluntarily met with federal investigators before his arrest.

“He goes to school, has been to court several times, has given testimony and lives on an air force base,” Garcia-Montes said. “He is not a flight risk.”

Prosecutors said evidence to be presented at Goudreau’s trial includes sales records for firearm silencers, night vision goggles and laser sights – some of which have serial numbers that match weapons police seized in Colombia when the plot was uncovered. All of these weapons require a U.S. government export license, which Goudreau did not have.

While prosecutors did not disclose how they obtained Goudreau’s DNA, they said it was found on two of about 60 automatic weapons assembled at the warehouse in Melbourne, Florida, where Goudreau lived and his company, Silvercorp, was based.

From there, Goudreau and a co-defendant, Venezuelan Yacsy Alvarez, who lives in Colombia, are said to have organized the transport of the weapons to Colombia. The transport took place in a private plane belonging to Alvarez’s boss, a Venezuelan businessman with close ties to the government of the late Hugo Chávez.

Prosecutors allege that Goudreau also spent $90,000 on a yacht to transport ammunition, armor plates and magazines for AR-15 rifles. Some of the weapons never arrived because the yacht sank in the middle of the Caribbean. Goudreau and an unnamed accomplice had to be rescued by a passing natural gas tanker.

Goudreau’s odyssey is the subject of an upcoming documentary film called “Men of War,” which Gatien co-directs with Miami-based filmmaker Billy Corben.

Gatien registered a production company in Florida with Goudreau in 2021 and is described in court documents as his girlfriend. His lawyer said at the bail hearing that the two had lived together for two years while Goudreau attended the New York Film Academy. But as he was handcuffed outside Gatien’s apartment, Goudreau used a curse word to tell the FBI that she was not his girlfriend.

If convicted, Goudreau faces ten to twenty years in prison.

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