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Alvin Hellerstein, the United States federal judge overseeing the drug trafficking case against deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has died at the age of 92.
An official at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where Hellerstein served, confirmed his death to AFP on Wednesday.
Hellerstein had presided over the case against Maduro for more than a decade, raising questions about the future of the proceedings, which could involve a lengthy trial.
Maduro faces drug trafficking charges in the United States following his seizure by US forces during a military raid on his compound in Venezuela in January.
The case has also involved Venezuela’s former intelligence chief, Hugo Armando Carvajal, who has been convicted in connection with the wider drug trafficking investigation.
Before his death, Hellerstein had built a long judicial career handling several high-profile cases, including civil lawsuits arising from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
He was known for rejecting settlements he considered unfair to complainants in the cases linked to the attacks.
Hellerstein also presided over legal disputes involving US President Donald Trump. He rejected Trump’s request to transfer his New York hush money case from state to federal court.
In 2025, the judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members without court hearings.
In another significant ruling in 2015, Hellerstein ordered the US government to release photographs documenting the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He also oversaw a trial in 2025 involving French banking group BNP Paribas. A jury found that the bank’s work in Sudan had helped sustain the regime of former ruler Omar al-Bashir and awarded $20.75 million in damages to three Sudanese plaintiffs.
Hellerstein’s legal career began after he graduated from Columbia University Law School. He served as a lawyer in the US Army from 1957 to 1960 before entering private practice.
Former US President Bill Clinton nominated him to the federal bench in 1998, appointing him to the Southern District of New York, where he handled major civil and criminal cases for decades.
His death leaves the Maduro prosecution without its presiding judge, with the next steps in the proceedings dependent on the court’s arrangements.
