Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein Dies at 92

Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein died of natural causes on Tuesday at the age of 92, just short of his 93rd birthday. Fox News, the Washington Examiner, and The New York Times reported that the long-serving jurist passed away while serving as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. [1][2][3]

At the time of his death, Judge Hellerstein was overseeing the federal criminal case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Fox News reported that Hellerstein had previously denied a bond request from Cilia Flores and handled the Maduro torture proceedings. United States v. Nicolás Maduro Moros et al. is a federal criminal case filed by the Department of Justice alleging that Maduro conspired to traffic cocaine into the United States. [1][2][10]

According to Fox News, Hellerstein also presided over attempts by former President Donald Trump to move his New York state criminal case to federal court. In that state case, The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, Trump was charged with 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records. [1][5][6][7][8][11]

Fox News and the Washington Examiner both reported that Hellerstein was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton. Reports from The New York Times, KOKH, and Click2Houston noted that his lengthy judicial career also included presiding over major litigation surrounding the September 11 attacks and Archegos. [1][2][3][5][6]