Alvin Hellerstein is 92 years old, Orthodox Jewish, and has spent nearly thirty years on the federal bench since Bill Clinton appointed him.
Now he’s the one overseeing the trial of Nicolas Maduro. US forces grabbed the Venezuelan leader and his wife while he was sleeping in Caracas on Saturday. They flew him straight to the Brooklyn Detention Center, where he’ll wait for his arraignment on Monday.
When Trump heard Hellerstein would be handling the case, he kept it short: “He is very respected.”
Who is Alvin Hellerstein?
Born in New York in 1933, he did a stint in the Army’s prosecution service, practised law in the private sector, and then landed his judgeship for the Southern District of New York in 1998.
He’s one of the longest-serving judges still at it. Hellerstein went to Columbia Law, started out clerking at the same court he now leads, and people know him for solid, fair decisions. Even though he’s a prominent figure in the Jewish community, he’s built a reputation for impartiality, according to EL PAIS.
He’s handled some big cases. Last September, he stopped the government from deporting demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, calling the move unlawful. He blocked the same administration from deporting Venezuelans under the “Alien Enemies Act,” saying they’d enforced the law the wrong way.
Right now, Hellerstein is also overseeing the case against Hugo Armando “Pollo” Carvajal, a former Venezuelan general accused of drug trafficking.
Alvin Hellerstein going to stay busy with Naduro’s case
Carvajal, once the top intelligence chief under Chavismo, has agreed to help authorities, and his testimony will be key in Maduro’s trial. Last summer, Carvajal pleaded guilty in the same New York court to four drug and narcoterrorism charges.
Hellerstein won’t get much downtime with the Maduro case on his docket. Until early Saturday, Maduro was still Venezuela’s president, but US Delta Force commandos captured him in Caracas.
He’s now at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a place that’s drawn plenty of criticism for its conditions from just about everyone: judges, detainees, and human rights groups.
The US Attorney General’s office has charged Maduro with four crimes: conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess those weapons against the US. His wife, his son, and two top officials are also facing the same charges.
Prosecutors say Maduro made a fortune during his years in government and planned to flood the US with drugs.
