EOUSA Director Monty Wilkinson Retires

Monty Wilkinson, most recently Director of the Executive Office for United States
Attorneys (EOUSA), retired on June 30, 2023, after serving most of his career with
the Department of Justice. Mr. Wilkinson, who had previously served as Director
of EOUSA from 2014-2017, and prior to that as its Principal Deputy Director and
Chief of Staff, was reappointed EOUSA Director by Attorney General Merrick
Garland on March 14, 2021. EOUSA provides executive and administrative support
for the 93 United States Attorneys.

After graduating from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1988, Mr.
Wilkinson served as a law clerk to Eric Holder, then a judge of the Superior Court
of the District of Columbia. He began his career with the Department of Justice in
1990 as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division. He went on to work as Special
Counsel and Spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and
continued to serve in senior management positions in that office before becoming
an Associate Deputy Attorney General in 1997. During his career with the DOJ, he
served as Counselor and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, as the
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration, as
well as the Acting Attorney General from January 20, 2021 until March 11, 2021,
when Attorney General Garland was sworn in.

Former Director Wilkinson’s friends, including his many friends in NAFUSA, expect
him to spend time with family, travel and play a lot of golf!

Looking Back-The NAFUSA Early Years

 

memo

Marti Robinson found the attached picture in her husband Jim’s papers and sent it
and the accompanying memo to former NAFUSA Executive Director Rich Rossman.
As many of you remember, former NAFUSA President Jim Robinson died 13 years
ago on August 6, 2010. A Michigan native, he went on to become, among other
prestigious positions, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division from
1998 to 2001.

Although the actual date of the picture is unknown, it is believed to be from an
early NAFUSA conference. (Do you know?) The accompanying cover note to Bill
Gray’s son, Joshua, identifies some of those pictured, including long time NAFUSA
member Attorney General Thornburg and the Robinsons, among others. Bill Gray,
U.S. Attorney for Vermont from 1975-1977 under President Carter, was an early
NAFUSA president.

Many thanks to Marti Robinson and Rich Rossman for sharing this piece of
NAFUSA history.

If you have any early (earlier) photos from NAFUSA gatherings, please consider sharing them with us.

Rosie Hidalgo Sworn in as Director of the Office on Violence Against Women

For the first time since 2012, the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) has a
Senate-confirmed Director. The Senate confirmed Rosie Hidalgo on July 11, 2023,
in a bipartisan vote. As Director, she will lead the Department’s principal efforts in
confronting gender-based crimes. Prior to this appointment, Hidalgo served as a
special assistant to President Biden and senior advisor on gender-based violence
at the White House Gender Policy Council. She previously held a position at OVW
as Deputy Director of Policy from 2014-2017 and is also a former director of public
policy for Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and
Communities, a national resource center focused on providing training, research,
and policy advocacy to prevent and end domestic violence and sexual assault.

OVW provides federal leadership to reduce violence against women and
administer justice for and strengthen services to survivors of domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. It oversees more than $700 million
annually for grant programs authorized under the Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA).

Paul Coggins Elected President of NAFUSA Foundation

The NAFUSA Foundation board has elected Paul Coggins as the next president. Coggins was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas from 1993 to 2001. During his time as U.S. Attorney, he served twice on the Attorney General’s Advisory Council and in 1998 as its vice chair. He was elected president of NAFUSA in 2019. He is currently the co-head of the White Collar and Government Investigations group at Locke Lord. Coggins, a graduate of Yale University, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University, is a published author, currently at work on his Cash McCahill series of mysteries. Most recently, he was invited to speak at Oxford University on balancing careers in law and writing.

The NAFUSA Board recently designated Coggins and Bill Lutz as directors of the NAFUSA Foundation. They join ex-officio members Chuck Stevens, John Richter and Donna Bucella as directors on the foundation board.

Coggins praised the work of former foundation president, Ed Dowd, and called him a hard act to follow. Dowd served as the foundation president since 2019. Under Dowd’s leadership, the foundation awarded scholarships to unpaid law student interns who have performed outstanding work while interning at U.S. Attorney’s Offices and in the Department of Justice.

Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General meet with U.S. Attorneys on Violent Crime

On June 14, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, along with DOJ law enforcement heads from DEA, FBI, ATF and the USMS, met with all 93 U.S. Attorneys to discuss the DOJ’s summer anti-violent crime strategy. The meeting followed up the Department-wide strategy launched two years ago to leverage federal resources, including grant programs and federal law enforcement, with state and local partners to combat violent crime.

In his remarks, the Attorney General announced the upcoming launch of the third phase of the U.S. Marshals Operation North Star aimed at locating and arresting fugitives charged with the highest levels of violence. Additionally, he announced that the DEA will be launching the third phase of Operation Overdrive. The first two phases resulted in the seizure of over 13 million deadly doses of fentanyl and 1300 illegal guns as well as over 1700 arrests. The AG also described efforts by the ATF to use its powerful ballistic tools to generate leads on violent criminals from evidence collected at crime scenes. In the last year these tools produced nearly 200,000 leads.

In the meeting with U.S. Attorneys, the AG and DAG discussed the Department’s strategy, which includes providing resources to communities across the country through DOJ grant making components. The Office of Justice Programs and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services are anticipated to award over $1.3 billion to support state and local law enforcement efforts to combat violent crime.

The Attorney General applauded the work of DOJ prosecutors who have prosecuted more than 6000 individuals for violent crimes so far in 2023.

Looking ahead to NAFUSA Conference 2024

Although it’s been barely two months since NAFUSA members enjoyed a successful conference in beautiful Half Moon Bay, California, we are already looking forward to Conference 2024. As previously announced, the Board of Directors voted to return the annual conferences to the fall of the year as was traditional prior to the pandemic. Consequently, the next conference will be held in the fall of 2024. Please mark your calendars for September 25 -27, 2024!

Those who were unable to join us in Half Moon Bay missed the announcement by newly elected president John Richter about the location of NAFUSA’s 2024 annual conference. The next venue became apparent to all when John presented each Board member present, including the newly elected directors, with a ball cap emblazoned “OKC.” NAFUSA will be heading to Oklahoma City in 2024.

Although the conference is many months away, planning is already well underway. We have contracted with a unique and historic hotel, the National, which is in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City, within walking distance of great restaurants, conveniently located near desirable OKC destinations, and just ten minutes from Will Rogers International Airport. The National is a Marriott Autograph Collection managed property and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel is located in the First National Center, a 32-story building which originally opened in 1931 as an iconic bank and landmark monument. The National comprises the first eight floors of the historic building and opened in April 2022 catering to business travelers and those interested in historic stays. Be prepared to see original murals and bank vault doors, many shops, restaurants, and bars, as well as the Library of Distilled Spirits located in the building’s famous bank vault.

Stay tuned for more information about the OKC conference in the months ahead.

John Richter Elected President of NAFUSA

NAFUSA members elected King & Spalding LLP partner, John C. Richter, as incoming President during the general membership meeting in Half Moon Bay. The United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma from 2005 to 2009, John succeeds outgoing president Chuck Stevens and will serve through the next conference in the fall of 2024. Chuck will continue to serve on the Board of Directors as Immediate Past President. “I’m honored to serve this great organization,” John stated.” “I look forward to working with my fellow officers and board members as we lead this great organization in continuing to fulfill its mission in promoting and supporting the institution of the United States Attorney.”

John is a trial and investigations partner in the Special Matters and Investigations Practice Group of King & Spalding LLP. He represents and defends companies, Boards of Directors and others facing white collar criminal, civil, and regulatory enforcement matters. He has tried and/or defended criminal and/or civil cases and investigations in more than 15 federal districts, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

John served from 2003 to 2005 as Chief of Staff to Assistant Attorney General
Christopher A. Wray. In 2005, John then served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at DOJ, leading almost 500 prosecutors on a range of national security and federal criminal law cases and investigations. While serving as Acting AAG he was a member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force and oversaw the Enron Task Force.

In 2005, he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, where he served until 2009, after being nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by unanimous Senate consent. While U.S. Attorney, he chaired the AGAC’s Sentencing Subcommittee and served as a member of the AGAC’s White Collar Crime, Native American Issues and Terrorism and National Security Subcommittees.

He has been recognized as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in America by Benchmark Litigation, a “White Collar Defense MVP” by Law360, and a “Life Sciences Star” by LMG Life Sciences.

John began his career as a federal prosecutor as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta and Oklahoma City after serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Cobb County, Georgia. From 1992 to 1994, John served as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Owen Forrester, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia. He is a graduate of Emory University and of the University of Virginia School of Law.

John formally assumed the duties of President on Friday night of the Half Moon Bay conference.

Passing of the torch to newly elected president John Richter, left, from outgoing president Chuck Stevens.

NAFUSA Elects New Treasurer and Class of 2026 Directors

Longtime NAFUSA member Donald “Don” Washington was elected Treasurer during the general membership meeting at the Half Moon Bay conference. Don served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana from 2001 to 2010 under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. While U.S. Attorney he served on the AGAC. He later served as the 11th Director of the United States Marshals Service (USMS), overseeing the operations of nearly 5500 USMS employees, under Presidents
Donald Trump and Joe Biden from 2019 to 2021. After leaving the USMS, Don returned to his former law firm, Jones Walker, as a partner in the Litigation Practice Group on the corporate compliance and whitecollar defense team in the Lafayette office.

Don is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the South Texas College of Law.

Also, NAFUSA members at the annual conference elected a new slate of Directors to serve as the Class of 2026. The new Board of Directors members are:

Deidre Daly, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 2013 to 2017 under Presidents Obama and Trump, is currently a partner and co-chair of Finn Dixon & Herling’s Litigation Practice.

Conner Eldridge served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas from December 2010 to August 2015 under President Obama. He is now a partner at Eldridge Brooks Partners in Fayetteville.

Brendan Johnson served as U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota from 2009 to 2015 under President Obama. He served on the AGAC and as chair of the Native American Issues Subcommittee. He is now a partner with Robins Kaplan in Sioux Falls, S.D.

James “Jim” Letten served as U.S. Attorney for more than eleven years in the Eastern District of Louisiana under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama. He is now with Butler Snow.

Paul Perez was appointed by President George W. Bush and served as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2002 to 2007. He is currently with Fidelity National Financial, Inc.

Jeff Taylor, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2006-2009, is currently Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Fox Corporation

2023 J. Michael Bradford Award Winner Amanda Strachan

The 2023 J. Michael Bradford Award winner is Amanda Strachan, AUSA in charge of the Criminal Division in the District of Massachusetts. Amanda was selected by a committee of NAFUSA board members from over 20 candidates submitted by U.S. Attorneys offices across the nation. The selection committee was extremely impressed by her legal acumen and tenacious handling of the criminal investigation and
prosecution of the New England Compounding Center (NECC), the compounding pharmacy responsible for the 2012 nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in which approximately 800 patients were sickened throughout the county and more than 100 patients died. The NECC investigation resulted in a 131-count indictment and led to convictions of 14 owners, executives, and former employees of the company. The
committee was also impressed with the compassionate way she handled the victims and their families.

District of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins applauded the selection of Amanda Strachan for the award, “You could not have picked a more deserving lawyer and public servant to recognize… She inspired and empowered a team of AUSAs, legal assistants, victim specialists, and other professionals to do their best work on behalf of the victims in the New England Compounding Center case – and she continues to do that every single day in every case she oversees.”

Amanda’s presentation at the conference clearly reflected her dedication to this case and to finding justice for the victims of the NECC. She led the NECC investigation and prosecution for over a decade, including four trials, securing justice for the victims, and putting a spotlight on abuses in the compounding pharmacy industry.

Amanda joined the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2007. Prior to that she practiced at WilmerHale LLP where she specialized in white collar criminal defense and internal corporate investigations. She is a graduate of Bowdoin College and Boston University School of Law. She has received two Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Awards and EOUSA’s Director’s Award for Superior Service.

NAFUSA Foundation President Ed Dowd, Bradford Award Winner Amanda Strachan and NAFUSA Secretary Catherine Hanaway

NAFUSA Foundation President Ed Dowd, Bradford Award Winner Amanda Strachan and NAFUSA Secretary Catherine Hanaway