Judge assigned to Nicolás Maduro’s criminal case dead at 92

Alvin Hellerstein oversaw numerous high-profile cases during his nearly three-decade tenure on the federal bench, including Bill Hwang’s fraud trial and 9/11 litigation.MANHATTAN (CN) — U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Bill Clinton appointee in the Southern District of New York, died Wednesday at the age of 92, according to a court spokesperson.He was just a month shy of his 93rd birthday.Hellerstein was presiding over the international drug trafficking case of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which sat most recently on Oct. 15 with Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, being arraigned on a superseding indictment that charged them with torture.A week prior, Hellerstein appeared frail from the bench when he denied Flores’ bid for release. He acknowledged he had a “voice problem” that was making it difficult for him to issue his oral ruling.“As long as you can understand and hear me, I’ll keep going,” he said on Oct. 8. “If I falter, you’ll have to wait for the papers, but I’ll get through it.”Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them. Their case will now be randomly assigned to another judge in Manhattan’s federal court, as is customary with the passing of a federal jurist. Trial is set to begin next summer.During his 28-year tenure on the federal bench, Hellerstein was assigned to many high-profile litigations. He presided over the fraud trial of Archegos Capital Management investor Bill Hwang, whom Hellerstein wound up sentencing to 18 years in prison in 2024. He also oversaw the trial of Charlie Javice, whom Hellerstein sentenced to 8 years in 2025 for her role in defrauding JPMorgan Chase.Hellerstein was additionally involved in recent litigation involving President Donald Trump. The judge repeatedly denied Trump’s persistent bids to move his New York criminal case — in which he was found guilty of falsifying business records — to federal court, most recently doing so in August. And in 2025, Hellerstein ruled that the Trump administration’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans was unconstitutional since it didn’t afford them due process.“They need to be protected,” Hellerstein said at a court hearing on April 9, 2025. “They need to be guaranteed a notice, guaranteed a hearing before they can be removed.”In 2020, Hellerstein lambasted the first Trump administration’s Department of Justice for imprisoning Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and “fixer,” after Cohen revealed his intention to write a tell-all book about his relationship with Trump. He called the move retaliatory and unprecedented, ordering Cohen’s release that July.Cohen published his first book, “Disloyal: A Memoir,” in September 2020.Between 2003 and 2008, Hellerstein was assigned to numerous cases surrounding the fallout of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including one brought by victims’ families hoping to compel New York City to sift through a landfill to find the remains of their loved ones. The judge dismissed their case in 2008, finding the city had already done its part. He sympathized with families who sought proper burials for their relatives, but noted that “not every wrong can be addressed through the judicial process.”Categories / Courts, Criminal, LawSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads