Soldier who participated in Maduro extraction and won $400,000 in bets released on bail

Gannon Van Dyke, the Army Special Forces master sergeant accused of profiting from the capture of Nicolás Maduro, was released Friday after posting $250,000 bail, a Justice Department spokesman confirmed.

Magistrate Judge Brian Meyers in Raleigh, North Carolina, imposed strict conditions on his release: Van Dyke, 38, must surrender his passport and give up possession of firearms, unless ordered to do so by military command for service.

The soldier, stationed at Fort Bragg, has yet to enter a guilty plea and is due to appear next Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan.

The indictment alleges that Van Dyke used his knowledge of Operation Absolute Resolve to bet on the Polymarket platform. Between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2, the serviceman invested $33,000 that Maduro would fall and U.S. troops would enter Venezuela. When the capture was executed on January 3, the sergeant made a profit in excess of $400,000.

Double standards: Anna Paulina Luna's request for a pardon

As the judicial system moves forward against Van Dyke, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has raised her voice to denounce what she considers an unequal application of justice. The Republican lawmaker requested a presidential pardon for the soldier, arguing that there is systemic hypocrisy in Washington.

Luna acknowledged that the serviceman's actions were wrong and suggested that his earnings should be confiscated. However, she lambasted the lack of prosecution of members of Congress who, she said, profit daily from insider information.

Through her X account, the congresswoman was blunt:

"It may not be a popular stance, but I call for this man to be pardoned. Unless the DOJ plans to prosecute all the corrupt people in Congress who currently engage in insider trading, this is simply skewed justice," she wrote.

For Luna, the punishment the soldier faces, which could add up to 60 years in prison, is disproportionate compared to the impunity in the spheres of political power. "There is no 'justice' when guys like this get the full weight of the law while members [of Congress] are illegally profiting every day," the lawmaker added.

Polymarket's visual evidence and cooperation.

The federal investigation relies on digital evidence and testimony from the gambling platform itself. Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket, confirmed that the company collaborated closely with authorities after detecting unusual activity.

"We work proactively with all relevant authorities in the face of any suspicious activityin our marketplace," he said.

The prosecution also presented as evidence a photograph that Van Dyke himself uploaded to his Google account a few hours after Maduro's capture. According to the text of the formal accusation:

"That photograph shows Van Dyke on what appears to be the deck of a ship at sea, at dawn, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying a rifle, standing next to three other individuals wearing U.S. military uniforms," Coplan said.

This new development comes after President Donald Trump compared the case to that of baseball player Pete Rose, noting that, although the soldier bet "on his own team," the use of confidential information is still unacceptable, also criticizing that the world has become a casino.