Two nephews of Venezuela's first lady face life in prison after trying to smuggle 2,000 pounds of cocaine into the US 

Two nephews of Venezuela's first lady could face life in prison after they were convicted for trying to smuggle almost 2,000 pounds of cocaine into the US.

A Manhattan federal court jury returned its verdict against Efrain Campo, 30, and his cousin Francisco Flores, 31, after less than a day of deliberations. 

The nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores were charged with conspiring last year to import more than 1,700 pounds of cocaine into the United States.

Lawyers for Campo and Flores argued no drugs traded hands and the men never intended to deliver any. 

Efrain Campo (left) and Francisco Flores  (right) - two nephews of Venezuela's first lady - have been convicted of trying to smuggle almost 2,000 pounds of cocaine into the US

They blamed a flawed Drug Enforcement Administration-led probe that relied on a longtime informant who was using and dealing cocaine as he helped build the case. 

A defense lawyer told the jury on Thursday in closing arguments that the first lady's nephews should be acquitted because a US sting operation was so deeply flawed that prosecutors had to take the rare step of notifying Jose Santos-Pena, the star witness, they were ripping up his cooperation deal because of his lies.

'He lied in your face!' attorney David Rody told the jurors. 'You saw a rare thing, a government cooperator get ripped up in court.'

Rody said the testimony by the informant was crucial to the government's case against Flores and Campo. 

And he said it explains why the government didn't cut ties with him after learning in April that he had been dealing drugs for the last four years even as he was being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to work as an informant for the DEA and others.

US District Judge Paul A. Crotty said the defendants would not be sentenced before March, though no date was set. 

Defense attorneys requested time to challenge the conviction.

Rody, representing Flores, declined to comment after the verdict.