Judge Hellerstein Dead at 92 After 24 Years on Bench

Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a longtime fixture on the New York bench, has died at age 92. A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York confirmed the death on Wednesday, ending a judicial career that spanned three decades and included several of the nation's most high-profile disputes.

At the time of his passing, Hellerstein was presiding over the criminal prosecution of Nicolas Maduro, the former president of Venezuela. He assumed that case in January, shortly after his 92nd birthday. Concurrently, he was handling a procedural request from President Donald Trump to transfer his New York state criminal trial to the federal courthouse in the Southern District.

Hellerstein was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1998 when he was 64 years old. During his tenure, he managed litigation related to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, and the Ponzi scheme of David Hu. His docket also included a federal suit against a convicted sex offender and a case involving a 32-year-old CEO convicted of defrauding JPMorgan in a $175 million startup sale.

In recent years, the judge became a key figure in legal battles involving the Trump administration. He repeatedly denied Trump's efforts to shift his state case to federal court, rejecting arguments that the underlying acts were official duties. A state jury found Trump guilty in that case, which centered on payments made to Michael Cohen for a hush money settlement with Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels.

Hellerstein addressed the presidential immunity issue directly in his rulings. In an opinion on Aug. 28, he wrote that the trial evidence did not infringe on presidential immunity. He had previously stated that reimbursing Cohen for advancing hush money could not be considered the performance of a constitutional duty, nor could falsifying business records to hide that reimbursement.

Barry Pollack, an attorney representing Maduro, expressed sadness upon learning of the judge's death and offered condolences to his family. Duncan Levin, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor, noted that the change in presiding judge is unlikely to cause major delays in the Maduro trial. Levin said there is no automatic pause in proceedings and that a new judge can read the existing record and keep or adjust current dates as needed.

Hellerstein had been involved in matters connected to the Maduro case since 2014. His death leaves the Southern District to assign a new judge to the active docket, which includes the ongoing criminal case against the former Venezuelan leader and the procedural motions filed by the former U.S. president.