Overview
- Hellerstein is a long-serving federal judge appointed in 1998 who took senior status in 2011 and continues to hear major SDNY cases.
- U.S. prosecutors accuse Maduro of narcotics trafficking, corruption, and offenses linked to terrorism.
- Maduro was brought to New York on Saturday, enabling the case to move into pretrial stages in the coming weeks.
- The assignment places a high-profile international prosecution in the Southern District of New York, a leading venue for complex federal cases.
- Coverage notes Hellerstein’s Orthodox Jewish identity and his reputation for meticulous rulings shaped by decades of experience, including oversight of post‑9/11 litigation.