The narcoterrorism case against Nicolás Maduro was reassigned this Wednesday to Judge Analisa Torres. The decision of the Southern District Court of New York occurs following the death of Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein at the age of 92 due to natural causesconfirmed the judicial press office through the registry of random reassignment of pending cases.
Appointed in 2013 by President Barack Obama, Analisa Torres has extensive experience in civil, criminal and regulatory cases. Of Puerto Rican descent, the jurist graduated with honors from Harvard University and obtained her doctorate from Columbia Law School. Before joining the federal court, she practiced in the private sector and served for nearly a decade as a judge on the New York State Supreme Court, in addition to serving on the city’s civil and criminal courts.
Procedural agenda and pending decisions
Torres will take over a criminal process that Hellerstein led since March 2020 and that gained new momentum after Maduro’s capture and transfer to the United States in January 2026. The judge must resolve in December the defense requests seeking to dismiss the accusation through the allegation of sovereign immunity.
The trial against Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, for the crimes of conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, importation of cocaine, possession of destructive weapons and torture, the date is set for June 14, 2027.
