Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Who Oversaw Maduro Case, Dies at 92

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who presided over the criminal case against Nicolás Maduro and other high-profile matters, died at 92, the Southern District of New York said. His pending cases, including Maduro’s prosecution, are to be randomly reassigned to other federal judges, according to district executive Ed Friedland. Hellerstein’s death leaves another judge to take over a case involving Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who have pleaded not guilty to federal charges. The successor will inherit pending motions and a trial currently scheduled to begin June 14, 2027. The reassignment plan has been reported, but no successor had been named in the reports. At a hearing on October 15, Hellerstein granted a joint request by prosecutors and defense attorneys to postpone the trial by two weeks. He also scheduled a December 17 hearing on defense motions seeking dismissal of the prosecution. Whether the new judge will keep those dates has not been determined in the reported proceedings. The case has included allegations of narcoterrorism, cocaine trafficking and firearms offenses. An expanded indictment added allegations that Maduro and Flores conspired to torture...