Veteran Manhattan Judge Overseeing Maduro Prosecution Dies at 92
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, the Manhattan judge presiding over the prosecution of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, died on Wednesday at the age of 92. The court said he died of natural causes, just shy of his 93rd birthday. His death vacates the bench in one of the most closely watched criminal cases in the country.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed the death in a statement. According to the Associated Press, Hellerstein died on Wednesday morning surrounded by his family, and his funeral is scheduled for Thursday at Riverside Memorial Chapel in Manhattan. Swain called him a distinguished jurist and praised his energetic and dedicated service, which continued until his death.
Hellerstein was appointed in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and served nearly three decades on the Southern District bench. A native New Yorker and longtime member and trustee of The Jewish Center synagogue in Manhattan, he came to the bench after a distinguished career in private practice and served for over 25 years as a district judge. His tenure spanned administrations of both parties without interruption.
Only about two weeks before his death, Hellerstein presided over the arraignment of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on torture charges added to their ongoing narco-terrorism conspiracy case. CBS News reported that he had presided over matters connected to the Maduro case since 2014. The case had been scheduled for trial in June 2027, and it is not yet clear whether that date will hold.
The court said the Maduro case, like all of Hellerstein's pending matters, will be randomly assigned to another federal judge. Duncan Levin, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor quoted by CBS News, said the death creates no automatic pause and no fixed period of delay: the new judge will need time to get up to speed but may keep the existing dates or adjust them. Barry Pollack, Maduro's lawyer, offered condolences to Hellerstein's family.
Beyond the Maduro prosecution, Hellerstein presided over dozens of wrongful death, injury and property damage lawsuits arising from the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, a docket that stretched across two decades. He also oversaw matters involving President Donald Trump and the trial of Archegos family office founder Bill Hwang. That mix of terrorism-compensation litigation, major financial fraud and the trial of a deposed foreign leader made him one of the most recognizable trial judges in New York.