Judge orders arrest of ex-Green Beret tied to failed Venezuela raid after court no-show
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Tampa has ordered the arrest of a former Green Beret accused of plotting to invade Venezuela in 2020 after he failed to show up for a hearing on whether he should be taken back into custody for violating the conditions of his pretrial release.
Jordan Goudreau, 49, was arrested last year on arms smuggling charges linked to the failed coup attempt during the first Trump administration.
He was released after a few weeks in jail after film producer Jen Gatien gave him a promise. $2 million Manhattan apartment where a war veteran lives as collateral for a bond. In testimony this week, Gatien detailed how the three-time Bronze Star recipient became abusive, claiming he threatened to harm her and others and sent text messages saying he would not go back to prison.
Gatien stated that Goudreau previously lived on a sailboat in Mexico and said, “I believe that he plans to leave this country one day.”
Judge Christopher Tuite issued the arrest warrant Friday after waiting 30 minutes for Goudreau to arrive for the third day of his bond hearing. The ankle monitor Goudreau was required to wear was still in the Tampa area, where Goudreau was receiving equine-assisted therapy under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a parole officer said.
“I’m confused,” Goudreau’s attorney, Marissel Descalzo, told the judge. “I didn’t talk to him about why he wasn’t here.”
Documentary about the Venezuela raid
Gatien’s new documentary, “Men of War,” is a largely sympathetic look at Goudreau’s crude plan to train a mercenary force of Venezuelan army defectors in neighboring Colombia to carry out a cross-border raid aimed at triggering a popular revolt and overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro.
Plot, The Associated Press disclosed Two days before the attack, Maduro stood no chance against vastly superior security forces, resulting in the killing of several so-called freedom fighters and the imprisonment of two of Goudreau’s friends in the US Special Forces in a prison in Venezuela.
The relationship between the two has soured since the film’s release last month, and in the weeks leading up to the bond hearing, the filmmaker accused Goudreau of infidelity, financial coercion and threatening behavior in court filings.
Gatien specifically accused Goudreau of reneging on a promise to pledge large reserves of cash, gold coins and cryptocurrencies to reduce the filmmaker’s financial exposure as the sole bond guarantor in what prosecutors described as an “undisclosed side deal.”
He also shared with the court screenshots of angry text messages, sometimes incoherent and profanity-filled, that included the claim: “I’m not going back to prison.” Prosecutors say the statement showed his intention to flee.
“If he had escaped, I would have gotten a zero,” Gatien testified. “All I got last year were broken promises.”
Search for assault rifles
Among those scheduled to testify on behalf of the government at the hearing was an Oklahoma couple who hid some of Goudreau’s belongings; these included two assault rifles that an employee had recently attempted to seize; this was a possible violation of a court order against possessing a firearm while on bail.
In the affidavit, Brande and Jason Woolems revealed that Goudreau called them last month and pressured them to file false accusations against Gatien to prevent him from giving up bond.
The couple said in affidavits that Goudreau asked them to sign statements accusing Gatien of abuse of power.
“When we refused, he called us ‘Judas’ and repeatedly shouted angrily, accusing us of treason,” they said in the statement.
Piglets Bay
The 2020 invasion, known as the Bay of Piglets, stands as a cautionary tale of the Trump administration’s mostly amateur pursuit of regime change in Venezuela.
Those criticisms have grown stronger in recent weeks after a naval fleet deployed by Trump carried out several deadly attacks on suspected drug-smuggling boats leaving Venezuela and the president authorized the CIA to carry out covert actions inside the South American country.
At a time when concerns are growing about a potential US invasion, Goudreau has re-emerged as a popular media pundit among Trump supporters and “radical leftist” critics.
In recent interviews, Goudreau has occasionally lashed out at a number of so-called deep state actors, including the CIA and the State Department, whom he accuses of “sabotaging” his covert mission, which he insists the first Trump administration blinkered.
Many of the same actors are once again trying to derail Trump’s foreign policy agenda, he said. Meanwhile, he also described Trump’s claims that Maduro is the leader of the so-called Suns Cartel, which consists of military officers involved in drug trafficking, as a “CIA fabrication”.
“What happens next if we invade Venezuela?” he recently told Russian state-owned RT. “The truth is that the Venezuelan opposition is as ruthless and cruel as the Venezuelan regime under Nicolas Maduro.”
Conspiracy to overthrow the President
Goudreau, who was born in Canada, said he believed in the cause of Venezuelan democracy after working as a security guard at a charity concert in Colombia to deliver humanitarian aid across the border.
Although he did not speak Spanish, he became close to several exiled allies of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whom the United States later recognized as the legitimate leader of Venezuela. For several months, a plan was hatched to invade Venezuela with the aim of triggering a popular revolt. As part of that effort, Goudreau signed a contract with Guaidó’s team, but the two sides split months before the raid was carried out under new leadership, likely infiltrated by Maduro’s intelligence services.
Goudreau was scheduled to go to trial in February on charges of failing to obtain an export license to ship about 60 AR-15 rifles to secret camps where freedom fighters were trained.
Two of the rifles seized in Colombia contain: Traces of Goudreau’s DNAThe serial numbers of the suppressors, night vision goggles and other equipment matched those purchased by Goudreau and his Melbourne, Florida-based security firm Silvercorp, according to prosecutors.
Gatien had Goudreau register a production company in Florida in 2021 and was identified in court records as his girlfriend. In his deposition, Gatien denied being anything more than good friends with Goudreau, who lived with him for two years while he attended the New York Film Academy.
