NEW YORK: Alvin Hellerstein, the veteran US federal judge overseeing the drug trafficking case against deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, has died aged 92, a court official confirmed on Wednesday.
His death was confirmed by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where he served for nearly three decades.
According to a court filing, the high-profile case against Maduro has been reassigned to Judge Analisa Torres, who was born in 1959.
Hellerstein, one of the oldest serving federal judges in the United States, had faced questions over whether his age would affect his ability to oversee what could become a lengthy trial.
Judge Oversaw Maduro Case for More Than a Decade
Hellerstein had presided over the extensive drug trafficking proceedings linked to Maduro for more than 10 years.
The case has already resulted in the conviction of Hugo Armando Carvajal, Venezuela’s former intelligence chief.
Maduro was captured by US forces during a military operation at his compound in Venezuela in January 2026 and subsequently faced drug trafficking charges in the United States.
The reassignment of the proceedings to Torres marks a significant change in judicial oversight of one of Washington’s most closely watched cases involving a former foreign leader.
High-Profile Cases and Trump Administration Disputes
During his lengthy judicial career, Hellerstein handled several major cases involving national security, human rights and government accountability.
He oversaw civil litigation arising from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, frequently rejecting proposed settlements he considered unfair to claimants.
ALSO READ: US Judge Blocks Trump Bid to Set Aside 20,000 California Ballots
Hellerstein also issued rulings that challenged decisions by US President Donald Trump and his administration.
He rejected Trump’s attempt to transfer his New York hush money case from state to federal court.
In 2025, he blocked the Trump administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members without providing them with an opportunity for a court hearing.
In another significant ruling in 2015, Hellerstein ordered the US government to release photographs depicting the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He also presided over a trial in 2025 in which a jury found that French banking giant BNP Paribas had helped sustain the government of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir through its operations in Sudan.
The jury awarded $20.75 million in damages to three Sudanese plaintiffs.
Nearly Three Decades on Federal Bench
A graduate of Columbia University Law School, Hellerstein began his legal career serving as a lawyer in the US Army between 1957 and 1960.
He subsequently entered private legal practice before being nominated to the federal judiciary by then-President Bill Clinton in 1998.
During his tenure at the Southern District of New York, he became known for handling complex litigation involving international affairs, civil liberties and government conduct.
His death leaves the Maduro proceedings under new judicial leadership as the case moves forward in New York.
