Judge in Maduro Trial Dies – What Happens Now?

A new judge will be given the federal case involving former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro after the current judge died at 92 years old, a Justice Department source told Townhall on Wednesday.

The source said that the reassignment will occur this week. 

From a DOJ source: A new judge in the Maduro federal case “should be assigned this week” after Judge Hellerstein died today at 92 years old

— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) October 28, 2026

Alvin Hellerstein, district judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, was presiding over the case set to begin in June 2027, according to Reuters. Hellerstein was considered a senior judge since 2011, and he was originally appointed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1998. 

Breaking News: Alvin Hellerstein, a senior federal judge in Manhattan overseeing the prosecution of the captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, has died at 92. https://t.co/9RFYI0l6Rj

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 28, 2026

Both Maduro and his wife were captured by the U.S. military earlier this year in Venezuela and brought to the country to face trial. They are facing narcoterrorism charges, as well as charges for “conspiring to commit torture,” “importation conspiracy” in addition to “weapons offenses," according to the DOJ. 

“As described in the Superseding Indictment, the Maduros and other Venezuelan leaders abused their positions of trust to enrich themselves through narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and other corruption, including by employing Venezuelan military, law enforcement, and other government entities under their control to flood the United States with illegal narcotics,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in an October 8 statement after the duo was faced with a superseding indictment. 

While Maduro remains in American custody, reconciliation talks are underway between the interim government and the past democratically-elected government to usher in a legitimate election in the South American nation, Townhall previously reported. 

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