William Ihlenfeld II (DOJ)
William Ihlenfeld II (Ohio University, West Virginia University College of Law) is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia. He succeeds Sharon L. Potter, who was the district’s U.S. Attorney from 2006 to September 2009 when she joined the law firm of Spilman, Thomas & Battle, PLLC.
His vitals:
- Born in Wheeling, W.Va., in 1972.
- Served as assistant prosecuting attorney in Brooke County, W.Va., from 2007 to 2010 and in Ohio County, W.Va., from 1997 to 2007.
- Was a member/partner at Ihlenfeld Law Office PLLC from 1997 to 2010.
- Was co-owner of Scholastic Sports Marketing LLC from January 2004 to March 2010 and Ohio Valley Jamboree LLC from March 2007 to March 2010.
- Served on the boards of the Wheeling Touchdown Club Foundation, Seeing Hand Association Inc. for the blind, YWCA Family Violence Prevention Program and Mountaineers on Wall Street Investment Club.
- Was a summer law clerk at the Ohio County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in 1995 and 1996.
- He tried about 50 cases to verdict, serving as counsel in about 40 cases and co-counsel in about 10 cases.
Click here for his full Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.
On his Senate Judiciary financial disclosure, Ihlenfeld reported assets valued at $1.1 million, mostly from securities and real estate, and $232,000 in liabilities, primarily from mortgages, for a net worth of $890,700.
On his Office of Government Ethics financial disclosure Ihlenfeld reported draws and bonus from his law firm of $51,356, a $43,000 salary from the Brook County Commission, net distribution from Scholastic Sports Marketing LLC of $38,928 and net distribution from Ohio Valley Jamboree LLC of $11,869. He also reported a student loan of between $15,001 and $50,000.
Stephanie Woodrow contributed reporting.
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On Aug. 24, Main Justice published a post (“Baton Rouge U.S. Attorney Focused on Low-Hanging Fruit?”) that summarized an article published in the Baton Rouge Business Report. The Business Report article compared the number of public corruption cases brought by the Middle District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s office based in Baton Rouge with the number of cases brought by the Eastern District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s office in New Orleans. The following commentary is a response from Middle District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr.
Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. (Gov)
I am writing concerning an article in the Baton Rouge Business Report entitled “Ripe for the Picking” that was summarized on your website. Unfortunately, the article was misleading and inaccurate in a variety of ways.
The Middle District of Louisiana is one of the smallest districts in the country with a total of 17 Assistant United States Attorneys. Despite our size, we have been extremely active in the area of public corruption, with 25 such prosecutions last year alone. Just last month, we indicted two mayors and a police chief on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) and various other bribery related charges. We also recently convicted 10 individuals on various racketeering charges in connection with a massive bribery scheme involving the corruption of over 100 matters in the local criminal courts. Those convicted include the senior city prosecutor, two police officers, two court employees, the chief public defender investigator, the mayor’s sister, and others.
We welcome being compared to the excellent work being done in the Eastern District of Louisiana (EDLA), but only when consideration is also given to the considerable size differences between the districts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the EDLA is over three times the size of our office (58 attorneys versus 17 attorneys), and the population of the EDLA is over double the population of our district. With these facts taken into account, the districts are quite similar in terms of the number of public corruption prosecutions.
Our office is extremely active in other white collar matters as well. We recently indicted 31 defendants as part of the largest health care fraud takedown in U.S. history. We also convicted eight individuals in a massive identity theft and corruption scheme led by Robert Thompson, who received a sentence of 309 years, the fourth-longest white collar prison term in U.S. history. The recent months have also seen numerous prosecutions in complex fraud cases involving securities fraud, massive Ponzi schemes, and money laundering.
In addition to battling corruption and other white collar crimes, it is critical that we also remain vigilant in the fight against drugs and violent crime. Baton Rouge continues to be plagued by drug dealers and violent criminals who often face significant prison terms if prosecuted in the federal system. We view such cases as extremely important to the citizens of this district and do not view them as so-called “low-hanging fruit.”
Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. is the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana. The views expressed are his own.
Laura Duffy (DOJ)
Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to attend the ceremonial investiture for the Southern District of California U.S. Attorney on Thursday, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney.
Laura Duffy officially took over the reins of the San Diego-based U.S. Attorney’s office in June. But U.S. Attorneys often have a ceremonial investiture later on, with local, state and federal leaders in attendance.
Holder has attended a dozen U.S. Attorney swearing in ceremonies so far.
The South Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office will revitalize its efforts to address Indian Country public safety through a new outreach plan intended to reduce the staggering crime levels in local tribal communities, the state’s top federal prosecutor announced earlier this month.
Brendan Johnson (Photo by Andrew Ramonas/Main Justice)
Brendan Johnson, who has led the Sioux Falls-based U.S. Attorney’s office since October, said he will launch a two-year pilot program this fall that will put a federal prosecutor on a South Dakota reservation at least three days a week. His office also will bring on three prosecutors to handle Indian Country prosecutions exclusively and increase communication and coordination with tribal communities as part of the new strategy, he said.
About 9 percent of South Dakota’s population is made up of American Indians, who mostly live in the state’s nine reservations. But Indian Country crime accounts for about 55 percent of the criminal caseload in the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“The Community Prosecution Strategy will not solve all of our law enforcement challenges in tribal communities, but it is my hope that it signals a new era of government-to-government relationships and a concerted effort to address public safety cooperatively,” Johnson wrote in an Aug. 5 letter announcing the initiative.
Johnson, who is the chairman of the Native American issues subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, made fighting Indian Country crime a top priority when he came into office almost a year ago.
The U.S. Attorney and prosecutors from his office held a conference with tribal leaders and state officials in February to solicit ideas on how to better combat crime. Johnson said the dialogue between tribal and government leaders laid the groundwork for his strategy.
“The experience confirmed the universal view that tribal communities must become safe places to live and strengthened the relationships among those committed to that ideal,” Johnson wrote in the 2009 annual report for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The cornerstone of the new strategy is the pilot program that will make a federal prosecutor a regular presence on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which accounted for more than a third of Indian Country cases brought by the U.S. Attorney’s office in 2009. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg Peterman, who will lead the program, is responsible for improving the tribe’s legal system and strengthening the relationship between the American Indian community and federal law enforcement.
Gregg Peterman (DOJ)
Peterman has more than 12 years experience working on criminal matters in the Pine Ridge Reservation. He also worked in Russia with the Justice Department’s Overseas Professional Development Assistance and Training program, which posts federal prosecutors abroad to help create effective judicial systems in budding democracies.
“I remember thinking 10 years ago we should do a detail in Indian Country,” Peterman told the Rapid City Journal, which first reported the strategy. “If we can do that overseas, I thought, why are we not helping communities in this country who need assistance improving the function of their tribal justice system?”
In addition to posting Peterman on the Pine Ridge Reservation and hiring three more prosecutors to handle Indian country cases exclusively, the U.S. Attorney’s office will now allow some tribal prosecutors to work on federal cases as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys. The U.S. Attorney’s office will also hold regular meetings with tribal members and mandate cultural training for prosecutors to help them become more attuned to the concerns of South Dakota American Indians.
Theresa Two Bulls (DOJ)
Theresa Two Bulls, president of the Ogala Sioux Tribe, which is on the Pine Ridge Reservation, told Main Justice that she supports the new efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s office to combat Indian country crime. She said ensuring the safety of American Indians on her reservation is vital.
“I feel that projects like this will help them see what goes on in the reservation,” said Two Bulls, a former tribal prosecutor.
Johnson is the second U.S. Attorney in the administration of President Barack Obama to implement a community initiative in his district.
Western District of Virginia U.S. Attorney Timothy Heaphy launched a community outreach program in July. The U.S. Attorney hired a former Roanoke councilwoman to meet with local organizations and immigrant communities to engage them in dialogue about effective law enforcement and let the groups know how the Justice Department can help them.
The community outreach initiatives draw on Attorney General Eric Holder’s work as D.C. U.S. Attorney from 1993 to 1997. He started a community prosecution project in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, which assigns prosecutors to different neighborhoods to meet with the residents and handle their cases.
“There’s a network of us that all believe in this kind of holistic approach to community problem solving, and I think you are going to see other offices get involved in this kind of thing as well,” Heaphy told Main Justice in July.
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