A longtime federal prosecutor best known for handling cases against former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, and John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, retired last week, The Washington Post reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Zeno left the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday, wrapping up a 29-year Justice Department career that included cases against Barry, now a D.C. councilman, who was sentenced in 2006 after he was convicted on tax evasion charges, and Hinckley, who is now a patient at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, a psychiatric institution in D.C. Zeno will join the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP.
“He was one of those guys that everyone goes to for advice,” D.C. U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen told The Post. “We are really going to miss him.”
Zeno served two stints in the office’s leadership as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney for Operations from January 2010 to April 2010 and 1998 to 2001. But he spent most of his career handling cases involving economic crimes.
He successfully handled major health care fraud cases in D.C., including prosecutions against a well-known doctor and a mental health clinic founder. Martin McLaren was sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 for bilking at least $1.75 million from government health care programs. Ricardo Henry, the founder of Insight Therapeutic Services Inc., received a 20 month prison sentence in 2008 for filching about $500,000 through fake Medicaid claims.
Zeno also played a key role in helping develop sentencing guidelines, serving on various sentencing guidelines groups. He has won several DOJ awards for his work on sentencing guidelines issues.
