Top US federal judge who handled 9/11, Trump, Maduro cases dies aged 92

Alvin Hellerstein, a senior federal judge who oversaw many high-profile cases in nearly three decades on the bench, including matters involving US President Donald Trump and the prosecution of ousted Venezuelan leader ​Nicolas Maduro, died ‌on Wednesday. He was 92.

Hellerstein had served on the Manhattan federal court since 1998, after ⁠former Democratic President Bill Clinton appointed him. He was surrounded by family when he died, a court spokesperson said. The judge's cases are expected to be randomly assigned to other judges in ‌the Manhattan court. Maduro's trial on torture and drug trafficking charges is scheduled for next June. He ⁠has pleaded not guilty.

“Judge Hellerstein was an insightful and dedicated lawyer," the court's Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain said in a statement. "His energetic and dedicated service to this court continued until his death. He is greatly appreciated and ​will be sorely missed."

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Many prominent cases 

While not the oldest judge serving on the Manhattan court, Hellerstein was ‌a rarity among federal judges for maintaining an active caseload into his 90s, unlike most older judges who handle fewer cases or retire.

Last year, Hellerstein oversaw the trial of Charlie Javice, the founder of an education startup who was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million. He ‌also presided over the 2024 trial of Bill Hwang, who was convicted of fraud and market manipulation after the collapse of his Archegos Capital Management caused more than $10 billion of losses ​for banks.

Hellerstein handled multiple cases concerning Trump. He spurned the Republican president's effort to erase his May 2024 hush money conviction by moving the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal case to federal court, and having it dismissed based on presidential immunity.

In 2020, during Trump's ​first White House term, Hellerstein ordered the release of the president's then-estranged former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, concluding that the Department ​of Justice tried to revoke Cohen's home confinement and return him to jail in retaliation for ​writing a book.

Many years earlier, Hellerstein presided over the vast majority of civil wrongful death and property damage lawsuits stemming from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Reflecting God 

An ​Orthodox Jew, Hellerstein had been outspoken about his need to promote fairness and the impact of his faith on his judicial philosophy. In a 2020 podcast, Hellerstein said he scheduled sentencing hearings for Fridays so he could reflect during the Jewish sabbath whether the punishments he handed down were fair.

"As a judge, and as a Jew, I consider that everything I do reflects God and affects His image," ⁠he wrote in a 2013 law review article.

A native of New York City, Hellerstein obtained his bachelor's and law degrees at Columbia University, where he was editor ⁠of the law review. He ​later served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the legal arm of the US Army.

Hellerstein joined the law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in 1960, and spent 38 years there before becoming a judge.