NEW YORK — The National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys on Saturday bestowed its top honor to a former Assistant U.S. Attorney from the Western District of New York.

National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys President Rich Rossman and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Mehltretter (photo by Andrew Ramonas / Main Justice)

Kathleen Mehltretter, who was a top official in the Buffalo-based U.S. Attorney’s office, worked on several major prosecutions including the Oklahoma City bombing case, the prosecution of the “Lackawanna Six” on charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda and the high-profile case against a man who killed an Amherst, N.Y. doctor who performed abortions. She retired in April after more than 31 years as a federal prosecutor.

Former U.S. Attorney Terrance Flynn of the Western District of New York said she been a hardworking Assistant U.S. Attorney throughout many presidential administrations.

“She has always kept her eyes focused on the Department of Justice and the importance that it be the leader in the country and the leader in the executive branch in pursuing what is the appropriate areas that we should investigate and we should promote as a country to ensure that every individual is properly protected,” said Flynn, who was U.S. Attorney from 2006 to 2009.

Mehltretter said the award was the “crowning achievement” of her career.

“I am overwhelmed, and to receive an award from one’s peers is the highest honor,” Mehltretter said.

The award is named for J. Michael Bradford, the Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney from 1994 to 2001. Bradford, who died in 2003, successfully defended the government against lawsuits stemming from the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas.

The National Association of former U.S. Attorneys last year honored Eastern District of New York Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Miller with the award. He has worked on major terrorism prosecutions, including the 2009 New York subway bombing plot case against Najibullah Zazi.

For more coverage of the 2010 National Association of Former U.S. Attorney’s conference in New York, click here.

Former military members who end up in the federal criminal justice system in the Western District of New York may have the opportunity to enter a local court dedicated to their rehabilitation, the U.S. Attorney in Buffalo, N.Y., announced last week.

William J. Hochul Jr. (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice)

The initiative marks the first time military veterans charged with certain crimes in federal court can take advantage of the Buffalo Veteran’s Treatment Court, which ensures they have the skills necessary to have productive, law-abiding lives. A spokeswoman for the Western District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to tell Main Justice what offenses will be handled by the Veteran’s Treatment Court, saying “things will be handled on a case by case basis.”

“As a lifelong prosecutor, I have sadly come to realize that our criminal justice system, with increasing regularity, finds itself coming into contact with individuals who are military veterans,” U.S. Attorney William J. “Bill” Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York wrote in a letter to the editor of The Buffalo News obtained by Main Justice. “Often times that contact is the result of mental health and/or drug and alcohol dependency issues related to their military service. Experience has shown that our traditional criminal justice system is ill-equipped to deal with these veterans.”

Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s office, the U.S. District Court in the Western District of New York, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Veteran’s Treatment Court concurred that eligible military members would need to agree to take part in and successfully complete the court’s rehabilitation program in order for their charges to be dismissed and to avoid prosecution.

Buffalo City Court Judge Robert T. Russell established the the Veteran’s Treatment Court in 2008. The court was the first program of its kind in the United States.

“Through this process we are seeking a better way to provide justice to those veterans who, despite the sacrifices they made for our country, sadly find that they have brought the war home with them,” Hochul wrote.

The new U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York is not bashful about expressing his dedication to the Justice Department. He sees it every time he walks into his office.

William J. Hochul Jr. (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice)

U.S. Attorney William J. “Bill” Hochul Jr. decided against decorating the back wall of his office with the trophies, awards and photos that adorned the space during the tenures of his predecessors. Instead when he became the U.S. Attorney in Buffalo, N.Y., last March, he hung only the DOJ seal in the prime spot.

“It is always in my mind,” Hochul said in a recent interview with Main Justice.

Hochul has hit the ground running since he was sworn in on March 12. Hours after the swearing-in ceremony, Hochul was on the phone with a federal agent about the arrests of gang members in Niagara Falls, N.Y. In the following weeks, an alleged Ponzi schemer and police officers accused of civil rights crimes pleaded guilty in federal court under his watch.

“I’m just enjoying every moment of it,” Hochul said. “I underestimated how rewarding it is.”

He said his “day begins early and ends late.” The U.S. Attorney, a former martial arts instructor, said he practices karate and does a little reading before he gets to work at about 7:45 a.m.

Hochul is constantly walking the halls at the U.S. Attorney’s office and conferring with prosecutors during the day. At night, he meets with community groups and often has speaking engagements.

Former FBI agent Thomas Thurston, who worked with Hochul, said it is rare to have a U.S. Attorney with the type of prosecutorial experience that Hochul has.

“I’ve seen other U.S. Attorneys in the courtroom and there’s no comparison to the experience Bill brings to the job,” Thurston said.

The U.S. Attorney received his law degree from State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1984 after graduating cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1981. He clerked for a Maryland Court of Appeals judge, then joined the DOJ in 1987.

He served four years as a prosecutor in the District of Columbia’s U.S. Attorney’s office before he joined the Western District of New York U.S. Attorney’s office in 1991. The prosecutor became the office’s anti-terrorism unit chief following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hochul helped successfully prosecute the “Lackawanna Six,” six Yemeni-American men who were sentenced to prison in 2003 for providing material support to al-Qaeda. The case was the first prosecution of U.S. citizens who were recruited on American soil to attend a terrorist training camp.

“He was very excited about the opportunity to apply the law to something like this,” said Peter Ahern, who was the special agent in charge of Buffalo’s FBI office during Lackawanna case. Ahern added that the Hochul is the “perfect prosecutor” for the FBI and other law enforcement agencies working on cases.

The case drew national media attention, bringing accolades to Hochul. He was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service – DOJ’s highest honor – for his work on the case.

Hochul applied for a counterterrorism posting in D.C. at the DOJ’s Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys in 2006 after completing several successful terrorism prosecutions. But a DOJ official, Monica Goodling, who was involved the 2006 U.S. Attorney firings, refused to promote him because his wife, Kathy, was a Democrat, according to a 2008 DOJ Inspector General report.

Kathy Hochul, who has been married to the U.S. Attorney for more than 25 years, is active in Democratic politics. She served as a legal counsel and legislative assistant to former Sen. Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and former Rep. John LaFalce (D-N.Y.) She is currently the Erie County Clerk in New York — the highest-ranking elected woman official in the county.

Goodling, a junior lawyer at the department who became a political gatekeeper on some hiring decisions, insisted that “a much less experienced, but politically acceptable” Assistant U.S. Attorney received the counterterrorism post, the IG report said.

The Assistant U.S. Attorney who got the job didn’t have familiarity with counterterrorism cases or the minimum five years of federal criminal prosecution experience required by the DOJ job posting. But he was a registered Republican.

“Certainly, the IG report speaks for itself,” Hochul said. “I don’t have anything to add to the findings.”

Hochul became the chief of the office’s National Security Division in 2006. He continued to handle high-profile terrorism cases, including the 2008 murder of a U.S. diplomat in Sudan and the 2008 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen.

Four men in Sudan received death sentences for shooting and killing South Buffalo, N.Y., native John M. Granville as he was driven home after a New Year’s party. The investigation into the U.S. embassy bombing is ongoing.

But 2008 wasn’t the first time Hochul traveled overseas as a prosecutor. The U.S. Attorney said he has visited “virtually every continent” to lecture foreign judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials about the U.S. justice system.

“It’s just a way that our State Department and Justice Department spread the good word,” Hochul said.

A three-time acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York plans to trade in her pens for sewing needles after more than three decades of service in the Buffalo, N.Y.-based office, The Buffalo News reported Monday.

Recently retired First Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Mehltretter told the newspaper that she intends to spend more time volunteering with the Southtowns Piecemakers Quilting Guild, making quilts for non-profit organizations. She also plans to help preserve the architectural heritage of Buffalo.

“We have amazing architecture in Buffalo, and I would like to be a volunteer somewhere where they give tours,” Mehltretter told The Buffalo News. “We have so much to see. … Buffalo should be more of a tourist destination than it is.”

Mehltretter gained recognition in the U.S. Attorney’s office for her work on the Oklahoma City bombing investigation, a public corruption probe in Niagara County and the Buffalo Parks Department and the successful prosecution of James C. Kopp, who murdered abortion provider Barnett A. Slepian.

“She impressed me very much, and I liked two things about her,” Salvatore R. Martoche, a former Western District of New York U.S. Attorney who served during the Reagan administration. “She was very honest in evaluating a case. She could separate the real facts from the facts you wished you had. And she connected with people. She could talk to anybody, and she had a sincerity about her.”

Denise O'Donnell (gov)

New York Gov. David Paterson on Friday named his new deputy secretary for public safety, filling a void left after the resignation of ex-U.S. Attorney Denise O’Donnell.

Late last month, O’Donnell stepped down from the position, citing a New York Times report that the governor may have inappropriately interceded in a domestic violence allegation against one of his aides. O’Donnell, who served in the Western District of New York from 1998 to 2001, said in a statement that communication by the governor and state police with a woman who requested a protective order against Paterson aide David Johnson, was “unacceptable regardless of their intent.”

In a news release Friday, Paterson announced he had appointed Mary B. Kavaney, a former clerk in a U.S. Attorney’s office, to serve as deputy secretary for public safety. In her position, Kavaney will oversee all homeland security and criminal justice agencies in the state. The position does not require state Senate confirmation.

Kavaney previously served as counsel to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services and later as assistant secretary for public safety. She also has worked as assistant attorney general in charge for the New York state attorney general’s office and as an assistant district attorney in Orange County, N.Y.

“I welcome Mary to her new position within my administration. With her extensive experience at the Division of Criminal Justice Services, I am confident that she will serve the state well,” Paterson said in the statement.

The Senate confirmed two U.S. Attorneys by unanimous consent Wednesday evening.

They are:

William J. Hochul Jr. (Getty Images)

-William J. Hochul Jr. (Western District of New York): The almost 20-year veteran of the Western District office will succeed Terrance P. Flynn, who resigned as U.S. Attorney in January 2009. Hochul was nominated on Dec. 24. Read more about him here.

Sally Yates (DOJ)

-Sally Q. Yates (Northern District of Georgia): The current acting U.S. Attorney, who has worked in the Northern District since 1989, will succeed David E. Nahmias, who stepped down as the last Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney in August. Yates was tapped on Dec. 24. Georgia Rep. John Lewis (D) initially tried to prevent her nomination, but withdrew his objections after queries from The Wall Street Journal about the matter. Read more about Yates here.

The Senate has now confirmed 36 U.S. Attorneys.

Denise O'Donnell (gov)

The resignation on Thursday of Denise E. O’Donnell as New York’s deputy secretary for public safety and commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services could wind up propelling her toward a run for New York attorney general, The Buffalo News reports.

O’Donnell, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York from 1998 to 2001, resigned as one of New York Democratic Gov. David Paterson’s top aides, to protest the handling of the latest scandal in New York state government. O’Donnell complained that the state police, which was under her purview, was involved in the affair, saying that she had been assured that the state police was not involved.

O’Donnell in a statement said that communication by the governor and state police with a woman who requested a protective order against Paterson aide David Johnson, was “unacceptable regardless of their intent.” The Buffalo News reports O’Donnell claimed she was misled by the state police — one of the agencies she oversaw — about its role in the incident.

According to the newspaper, “The departure of Buffalo’s Denise E. O’Donnell from two top criminal justice posts in the Paterson administration serves as more than a statement of moral outrage — though that’s certainly part of it. It also allows O’Donnell to pursue her long-held dream of running for attorney general.”

The former federal prosecutor previously sought the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2006 but did not get the necessary 25 percent at the party’s state convention in Buffalo to qualify for the primary ballot that year, the newspaper reports. She withdrew from the race at the convention.

But, following Friday’s announcement by Paterson that he is ending his bid for a full term, the Democratic field has all but been cleared for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to seek the Democratic nomination, The Buffalo News reported.

If that came to pass, O’Donnell would be a likely candidate for Cuomo’s job as state attorney general. In addition to her past efforts to seek the position, she also retained a huge war chest  — nearly $350,000 cash on hand — from her 2006 bid, according to the newspaper.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved two U.S. Attorney nominees Thursday by voice vote.

The nominees are:

William J. Hochul Jr. (Getty Images)

-William J. Hochul Jr. (Western District of New York): The almost 20 year veteran of the Western District office would succeed Terrance P. Flynn, who resigned as U.S. Attorney in January 2009. Hochul was nominated on Dec. 24. Read more about him here.

Sally Yates (DOJ)

-Sally Yates (Northern District of Georgia): The current acting U.S. Attorney, who has worked in the Northern District since 1989, would succeed David E. Nahmias, who stepped down as U.S. Attorney in August. Yates was tapped on Dec. 24. Read more about her here.

The panel has now approved 36 U.S. Attorney nominees, 34 of whom have won Senate confirmation. The committee has yet to consider another 14 would-be U.S. Attorneys.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote on two U.S. Attorney nominees Thursday.

The nominees are:

William J. Hochul Jr. (Getty Images)

-William J. Hochul Jr. (Western District of New York): The almost 20 year veteran of the Western District office would succeed Terrance P. Flynn, who resigned as U.S. Attorney in January 2009. Hochul was nominated on Dec. 24. Read more about him here.

Sally Yates (DOJ)

-Sally Yates (Northern District of Georgia): The current acting U.S. Attorney, who has worked in the Northern District since 1989, would succeed David E. Nahmias, who stepped down as U.S. Attorney in August. Yates was tapped on Dec. 24. Read more about her here.

The panel has approved 34 U.S. Attorney nominees, all of whom have already won Senate confirmation. The committee has yet to schedule votes for another 10 would-be U.S. Attorneys.

The committee will also consider tomorrow Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen, who has been on the panel’s agenda since Jan. 28.

Her nomination was held over the first time at the request of panel Republicans. The panel was then forced to hold her over two more times because the committee lost its quorum and its ability to conduct business. Committee Republicans have voiced concerns about Johnsen’s vocal opposition to the Bush administration’s national security policies and her past work for an abortion rights group.