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Judge Hellerstein Dies at 92, Oversaw Maduro and Trump Cases
· Confirmed
In Short: Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who presided over high-profile cases including those of former President Donald Trump and deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, died at 92.
Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who had been overseeing the prosecution of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and previously handled cases involving President Donald Trump, died at the age of 92, according to CBS News and PBS.
CBS News reported that Hellerstein was overseeing the Maduro case just days after turning 92, while PBS noted that he was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998.
Both outlets agree that Hellerstein was a long-serving judge who handled some of the country's most high-profile cases.
ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos and Timescall reported that Hellerstein was presiding over the criminal case of Maduro, who faces drug trafficking charges, while steadfastly refusing to allow another president, Donald Trump, to move his criminal case from state court to federal court.
According to ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos, Hellerstein was known for a quirky independent streak and strict discipline in his courtroom, insisting spectators wear pandemic-era masks for more than two years after other judges stopped the practice.
Timescall noted that Hellerstein was a Manhattan federal judge who presided over cases involving President Donald Trump, former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and the 9/11 attacks during nearly three decades on the bench.
Both ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos and Timescall agree that Hellerstein's death is unlikely to create significant delays in the Maduro case.
According to CBS News, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered Hellerstein to reexamine arguments around presidential immunity, factoring the Supreme Court's landmark decision that upended multiple Trump cases.
ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos reported that Hellerstein was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and oversaw a diverse array of federal cases, including litigation involving the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Timescall noted that Hellerstein was a district judge until he moved to senior status in 2011.
Both outlets agree that Hellerstein was a respected jurist who handled cases with sensitivity, fairness, and efficiency.
In August, Hellerstein again spurned Trump's effort to erase his hush money conviction, rejecting the president's bid to move the state court case to federal court and have it dismissed on presidential immunity grounds, according to ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos.
Background
Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who presided over high-profile cases including those of former President Donald Trump and deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, died at 92.
What's confirmed
- Barry Pollack, an attorney for Maduro, said in a text message to CBS News, "We were saddened to learn of Judge Hellerstein's passing and offer our condolences to his family." Hellerstein was 64 years old when former President Bill Clinton appointed him to the federal bench.
- Fox News national correspondent Bryan Llenas reports on the charges and the defense’s expected plans on ‘America Reports.’ Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was overseeing the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, died at the age of 92 on Tuesday.
- “Judge Hellerstein was an insightful and dedicated lawyer who, following a distinguished career in the private sector, served with distinction for over 25 years as a distinguished jurist of this court,” Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain said in a statement.
- U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a longtime Manhattan-based jurist, died Wednesday morning, a court spokesperson told Politico.
- Hellerstein, the senior federal judge who was overseeing the prosecution of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, died on Wednesday.
- Longtime Manhattan U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was overseeing the prosecution of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, died Wednesday at 92.
- Hellerstein announced that he was entering the plea on behalf of Maduro after Maduro twice responded to the judge’s request to enter a plea by criticizing the indictment, saying it contained “false accusations and false testimony”.
- Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have pleaded not guilty to an expanded US indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit torture.
- Maduro and Flores, captured by the US military in a January raid ordered by President Donald Trump and flown to New York, entered their pleas at an arraignment before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court.
- He said the indictment represented "false accusations" against him.
- Alvin Hellerstein, a top US judge who was handling the trial against deposed Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro and previously oversaw lawsuits stemming from the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and multiple cases involving President Donald Trump, died on Wednesday aged 92.
- SDNY Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain said Hellerstein passed away surrounded by his family.
What's still developing
- Hellerstein had faced some criticism for taking on the Maduro case in January, just days after turning 92, and months after reporters observed him appearing to briefly fall asleep during the high-profile trial of Charlie Javice, a 32-year-old CEO who was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan in the $175 million sale of her startup.
- Mr. Trump was found guilty by a state jury in that case, which revolved around reimbursements made to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for a payment just before the 2016 presidential election to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels.
- In the three decades since, he presided over major lawsuits related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a federal lawsuit against convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, litigation related to evidence of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the trial of Ponzi schemer David Hu, and last year ruled against President Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act in a case involving the deportation of Venezuelans.
- "One of the main qualifications of being a judge is that you can read a lot of paper. The fact that there's extra paperwork falls into their skill set."
- However, the US military operation of January 3 to capture President Nicolás Maduro has exposed the very real limitations of that strategy.
- Both told the judge they had been informed by their attorneys of the new indictment and had received a copy of it in Spanish.
- Prosecutors allege that Maduro ordered the detention and torture of certain prisoners, while Flores helped develop the system and ordered torture to protect the illicit activities of family members.
- Maduro was originally charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in a 2011 indictment that President Donald Trump's Department of Justice unsealed in 2020.
- Just two weeks ago, Hellerstein presided over the arraignment of Maduro and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, on torture charges that were added to their ongoing narco-terrorism conspiracy case.
- Only two weeks ago, Hellerstein presided over a Manhattan hearing in the ongoing narco-terrorism conspiracy prosecution of Maduro, who was captured earlier this year in a surprise raid.
- The Maduro case will be randomly reassigned to anothe r federal judge, court spokesperson Ed Friedland told the outlet.
- The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement that Saab and his associates “used fake companies, false invoices and fraudulent shipping records to skim hundreds of millions of dollars” meant for public benefit, later laundering the proceeds through shell companies abroad, including in the United States.