Alan Nevas, Respected Chief Prosecutor, Federal Judge, Dead At 97

Alan Nevas, who spent a good part of his professional career in the Bridgeport federal courthouse as a top prosecutor and then presiding as the judge who sentenced former Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano to 37 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing two girls, ages 8 and 10, has died at age 97. Nevas called that 2003 case the worst he ever saw.

Nevas, as a judge, was well liked by both prosecutors and defense attorneys. He was tough and fair. He often chafed at the onerous mandatory federal sentencing guidelines that locked up first-time, non-violent offenders for several years, many of them low drug possession charges.

Back then federal judges were handcuffed by the guidelines. Nevas, even knowing he would be overruled by a higher court, often announced “I’m not going to be a tool of Congress” and sentenced the defendant to a term less than what the guidelines called for. In 2005, however, The Supreme Court overturned the guidelines, making them advisory instead of mandatory, providing judges stronger discretion.

His obituary:

Judge Alan Harris Nevas died at the age of 97 on April 19, 2025 at his home in Westport, Connecticut surrounded by his loving family, after a brief struggle with lymphoma.

Judge Nevas was born on March 27, 1928 in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of Nathan and Eva (Harris) Nevas. He was a 1945 graduate of Stamford High School, and was later inducted into its Hall of Fame. Judge Nevas received a B.A. from Syracuse University in 1949, and a Bachelor of Laws from New York University School of Law in 1951. He was in the private practice of law in Westport, Connecticut from 1951 to 1981, except for a brief stint when he served in the United States Army as a Sergeant First Class from 1952 to 1954. Inspired by a visit to Westport by the Reverand Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., in the summer of 1964 Judge Nevas travelled to Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement to represent, on a pro bono basis, civil rights activists who had been arrested. He was an elected member of the Westport Board of Finance, serving one term as its chair, and was elected to three terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives, where he served from 1971 to 1977, including two terms as a deputy leader. He was also a Justice of the Peace in Westport from 1976 to 1981, and served on the boards of numerous organizations that were important to him, including Norwalk Hospital and the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, Connecticut.

From 1981 to 1985, he served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, having been appointed to that position by President Ronald Reagan. He was then nominated by President Reagan in 1985 to the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. After confirmation by the United States Senate, he served on the court until his retirement in 2009, having assumed senior status in 1997. During that time, he was elected by his fellow judges as president of the Federal Judge’s Association.

Following his retirement from the Federal bench, Judge Nevas once again entered private practice, primarily as a highly sought after arbitrator and mediator. During this time, Judge Nevas was appointed by then Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell to chair the state’s investigation into the causes of the deadly 2010 explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown, Connecticut, and to chair the committee that allocated $7.7 million in funds to families impacted by the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Far more important than his many professional achievements was his devotion to and love for his family. He was married to the love of his life, Janet Snyder Nevas, for nearly 66 years. They met in the summer of 1958 when he saw her across the room at the Lake Tarleton resort in New Hampshire and asked her to dance. She survives him, as do their children, Andrew Nevas and his wife Jodie Nevas of Westport, Connecticut, Debra Nevas and her husband Jonathan Abrams of Short Hills, New Jersey, and Nathaniel Nevas and his wife Leslie Radel of Wilton, Connecticut. “Pop” is also survived by his six grandchildren – Zachary, Chloe, Maxwell and Adam Nevas, and Alexa and Seth Abrams, as well as his sister Dorothy Freedman of Westport, sister-in-law Judith Broudy of Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, and his nieces and nephews and their families – Janet Freedman, Susan Filan, Ellen Wilner, Joshua Broudy and Matthew Broudy – in addition to numerous cousins. He was predeceased by his two brothers in law, Charles Broudy and Frederick Freedman.

Judge Nevas was a lifelong fan of the New York Football Giants, through good and mostly bad times. He and Janet were world travelers, visiting all seven continents. They enjoyed socializing with their many friends, trips into Manhattan for dining and culture, and summers on Martha’s Vineyard with their extended family. Judge Nevas will long be remembered for his legal and political acumen, intelligence, integrity and devotion to his family and many friends.

Funeral services will take place at Temple Israel, 14 Coleytown Road, Westport, Connecticut on Tuesday, April 22 at 10:00 a.m. (livestreamed at tiwestport.org/livestream), followed by burial at the Independent Hebrew Cemetery, 135 Richards Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut. For more information, and to share a condolence message, please visit greensfunearlhome.com.
Contributions in his memory may be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Mozaic Senior Life, or the Westport Library.