He was arrested in November 2004 and accused by the Hugo Chávez government of the violence that took place in Caracas during April 2002, under the order of pro-Chávez judge Maikel Moreno. In 2009, he was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in the notorious Ramo Verde Prison in the outskirts of Caracas. Due to the severe conditions in which he was held, his health deteriorated. He suffers from advanced osteoporosis because of sun deprivation for many years. Due to his deteriorating health, he requested humanitarian pardon on several occasions, all denied by the Venezuelan government. Simonovis was considered a political prisoner by human rights advocates.