Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein dies at 92 after long career

Manhattan federal judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has died at the age of 92, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain announced in a statement. PBS reported that Hellerstein died on Wednesday morning surrounded by his family. His funeral is scheduled for Thursday at Riverside Memorial Chapel in Manhattan. [1]

Hellerstein served for nearly three decades on the bench in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. PBS and multiple news outlets reported that he handled high-profile cases involving President Donald Trump, former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and litigation connected to the 9/11 attacks. PBS noted that just two weeks before his death, Hellerstein presided over the arraignment of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on torture charges added to a narco-terrorism conspiracy case. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by President Bill Clinton, Hellerstein later assumed senior status in 2011. During his career, he managed consolidated tort litigation following the September 11 attacks, coordinating discovery for approximately 13,000 claims by victims' families, first responders, and property owners. He also presided over lawsuits involving Harvey Weinstein, as well as fraud trials for businesswoman Charlie Javice and investor Bill Hwang. [12][15]