Longtime Manhattan U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was overseeing the prosecution of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, died Wednesday at 92. Hellerstein died of natural causes, according to a notice from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. His pending cases, including Maduro’s prosecution, will be randomly reassigned to other […]
Longtime Manhattan U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was overseeing the prosecution of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, died Wednesday at 92.
Hellerstein died of natural causes, according to a notice from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. His pending cases, including Maduro’s prosecution, will be randomly reassigned to other judges.
” data-large-file=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/judge-overseeing-maduro-case-dies-at-92.webp” src=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/judge-overseeing-maduro-case-dies-at-92.webp” alt=”Courtroom sketch ” class=”wp-image-4783053″ srcset=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/judge-overseeing-maduro-case-dies-at-92.webp 1024w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/judge-overseeing-maduro-case-dies-at-92.webp?resize=300,225 300w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/judge-overseeing-maduro-case-dies-at-92.webp?resize=768,576 768w” sizes=”auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>In this courtroom sketch, Judge Alvin Hellerstein, right, presides as courtroom deputy Brigitte Jones sits below the bench during a pretrial hearing in a drug trafficking case for former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at Manhattan federal court in New York. (Jane Rosenberg via AP)
Hellerstein joined the Southern District of New York in 1998 after being nominated by then-President Bill Clinton. He took senior status in 2011 and continued hearing cases, according to his Federal Judicial Center biography.
In more recent years, his docket placed him at the center of several high-profile legal fights involving President Donald Trump, including the president’s efforts to overturn his New York criminal conviction and his administration’s use of a wartime law to deport Venezuelan immigrants.
Hellerstein rejected Trump’s attempts to transfer his hush money case from state to federal court three times, most recently in August. Trump sought the transfer as part of an effort to have his conviction dismissed on presidential immunity grounds. A state court jury convicted him in May 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments covering up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Just a few months prior, in his Aug. 28 ruling, Hellerstein concluded that Trump had failed to justify his renewed request to move the case. The decision followed a federal appeals court order directing him to reconsider his earlier rejection.
“The grounds for a second removal cited by Defendant, Donald J. Trump, are neither new nor legally sufficient,” Hellerstein wrote.
Hellerstein also ruled against the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. In a May 2025 decision, he barred removals under the proclamation for a class of detainees held in the Southern District of New York, finding that the administration had not established the invasion or predatory incursion required to invoke the law.
Beyond the Trump-related litigation, Hellerstein oversaw years of lawsuits arising from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including claims involving deaths, injuries, and property damage.
He was still handling Maduro’s narco-terrorism conspiracy prosecution this month, presiding over a Manhattan hearing two weeks before his death.
