The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (in case citations, D.N.J.) is a federal court in the Third Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the ...

has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney.

Organization

The Office is organized into divisions handling civil, criminal, and appellate matters, in addition to the Special Prosecutions Division, which oversees political corruption investigations. The District of New Jersey is also divided into three vicinages: Newark, Trenton and Camden, with the southern two offices supervised by a Deputy U.S. Attorney. The office employs approximately 170 Assistant U.S. Attorneys. It is the fifth-largest U.S. Attorney's Office in the nation, behind those in the District of Columbia, Los Angeles,

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

High-profile cases

* Hugh Addonizio - Conviction of former Newark mayor on conspiracy and extortion charges * BitClub Network (2019) - Indicted five individuals for operating and promoting the BitClub Network, an elaborate, worldwide

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

that law enforcement estimates took in more than $1 billion from investors. * Wayne Bryant - Conviction of former chairman of New Jersey Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee for funneling money to the

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...

in exchange for a no-show job at the University. * Joseph Centanni (2020) - Filed a civil rights lawsuit against a major landlord who repeatedly engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment of numerous tenants and applicants. * Cognizant (2019) - Charged the former President and the former Chief Legal Officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. with violations of the FCPA in connection with a foreign bribery scheme. *

Crazy Eddie Crazy Eddie was a consumer electronics chain in the Northeastern United States. The chain was started in 1971 in Brooklyn, New York, by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar, and was previously named ERS Electronics (ERS stood for Eddie, Rose and ...

- Conviction of

Eddie Antar Crazy Eddie was a consumer electronics chain in the Northeastern United States. The chain was started in 1971 in Brooklyn, New York, by businessmen Eddie and Sam M. Antar, and was previously named ERS Electronics (ERS stood for Eddie, Rose and ...

, founder and CEO of Crazy Eddie, a consumer electronics chain, for fraud * Walter Forbes - Conviction of former chairman of

Cendant Corporation Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Yo ...

for fraud. *

EDGAR Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

Hacking Attack (2019) - Indicted Artem Radchenko and Oleksandr Ieremenko for a large-scale, international conspiracy to hack into the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system and profit by trading on critical information they stole. * Fort Dix Six (2007) - Conviction of group of six radical Islamist men allegedly plotting attack on Fort Dix military base * Fort Lee lane closure scandal (2014) * Cornelius Gallagher - Guilty plea of New Jersey Congressman for tax evasion * Nelson G. Gross - Conviction of former Republican state chairman on perjury and obstruction of justice charges *

Sharpe James Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of ...

(2008) - Conviction of former Newark mayor on corruption charges * Robert C. Janiszewski (2002) - Guilty plea of Hudson County Executive for tax evasion and bribery * John V. Kenny - Conviction of former Jersey City mayor and chairman of Hudson County Democratic Party on conspiracy, bribery, and extortion charges *

Charles Kushner Charles Kushner (born May 16, 1954) is an American real estate developer, former federal inmate, and disbarred former attorney. He founded Kushner Companies in 1985. In 2005, he was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, an ...

(2004) - Guilty plea of real estate developer—and largest campaign donor to former New Jersey Governor

James E. McGreevey James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

—for filing false tax returns and for attempting to retaliate against a witness in a federal criminal case *

Hemant Lakhani Hemant Lakhani (1935 – June 19, 2013) was an Indian-born British rice trader and sari salesman. He was convicted in 2005 of illegal arms dealing after purchasing a fake surface-to-air missile from a Russian intelligence agent posing as a disg ...

(2005) - Conviction of black market arms dealer attempting to sell shoulder-fired missiles * Gene Levoff (2019) - indicted former Corporate secretary and Director of corporate law at Apple Inc. for orchestrating a five-year

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

scheme. *

John A. Lynch, Jr. John A. Lynch Jr. (born October 21, 1938) is an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1982 to 2002, where he represented the 17th Legislative District, and was Senate President from 1990 t ...

- Guilty plea of former president of

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

for mail fraud and tax evasion * Newark Violent Crime Initiative (VCI) (2018-2020) - awarded an Attorney General’s Award in October 2019 as the model for cooperative law enforcement among federal, state, county and city agencies. The VCI led to a 30 percent reduction in the number of shooting victims city-wide between 2017 and 2018 and another 39 percent decline in 2019. In 2020, a year in which violent crime spiked in various places across the country, Newark maintained the same low in the number of murders. *

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-lo ...

Alcon Alcon is an American Swiss medical company specializing in eye care products with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and incorporated in Fribourg, Switzerland. Alcon began as a US company and its US subsidiary’s headquarters remain in For ...

(2020) - Two deferred prosecution agreements regarding significant violations of the

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable worl ...

at Greek and Vietnamese subsidiaries of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, resulting in penalties of $345 million, representing the second largest criminal and regulatory fine imposed against pharmaceutical companies under the FCPA. * Operation Bid Rig (2002–2009) - Multi-stage political corruption sweep, resulting in arrest of Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, New Jersey Assemblymen Daniel Van Pelt and L. Harvey Smith, and Jersey City Council President

Mariano Vega Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius, and Marius derived from the Roman god Mars (see also ...

* Operation Brace Yourself (2019) - Investigation and prosecution of sweeping

durable medical equipment Durable medical equipment is any medical equipment used in the home to aid in a better quality of living. It is a benefit included in many insurance policies and in some cases covered by Medicare benefits. The item is defined by Title XIX for Me ...

kickback schemes that resulted in the largest healthcare fraud takedown yet pursued by the Department. * Purdue Pharma (2020) - prosecution of opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma L.P. for three felonies, including conspiracy to defraud the DEA and Anti-Kickback Statute violations—for its gross misconduct in misbranding and mismarketing OxyContin that amounted to over $8 billion in penalties. * Samsam Ransomware (2018) - Indicted two Iranians—Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri—for conducting the largest ransomware attack in the U.S. that crippled institutions in New Jersey and elsewhere. *

Sarah Brockington Bost Sara Brockington Bost (born 1947) was the first female African-American to serve as Mayor of Irvington, New Jersey. She was the first African-American to head the Women Mayors Division of the United States Conference of Mayors. In 2003 she was se ...

(2002), Mayor of Irvington, New Jersey *

Martin Taccetta Martin "Marty" Taccetta (born May 2, 1951) is an imprisoned New Jersey mobster who was the alleged boss of the Jersey Crew, a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family. Early life Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951, Martin Taccetta is the s ...

Michael Taccetta Michael Salvatore Taccetta (born September 16, 1947), also known as "Mad Dog," is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who controlled the family's New Jersey faction in the 1980s. Personal life Taccetta, also known as "''Mike T' ...

(1987) - Unsuccessful prosecution of high-ranking members of

The Jersey Crew The Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction, also known as the Jersey Crew,Carlpg. 232-236/ref> is a powerful crew within the Lucchese crime family. The members operate throughout the Northern New Jersey area. During the 1970s into the late 198 ...

, a faction of the

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon know ...

UMDNJ The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...

(2005) - Deferred prosecution agreement overseen by federal monitor Herbert Stern involving Medicaid double-billing and other cases of health care fraud at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.New Jersey Law Journal's Lawyer of the Year: Chris Christie
''

New Jersey Law Journal New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

'', December 27, 2006. * Thomas J. Whelan - Conviction of mayor of Jersey City on conspiracy, bribery and extortion charges * Woodcliff Lake (2018) - Filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Borough of Woodcliff Lake for violations of

RLUIPA The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), , codified as et seq., is a United States federal law that prohibits the imposition of burdens on the ability of prisoners to worship as they please and gives churches and oth ...

resulting from the Borough’s efforts to prevent an Orthodox Jewish congregation from building a new place of worship.

Prominent officeholders

Prominent assistant US attorneys *

Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 31, 2005, and has serve ...

- Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court * Carolyn Arch - Partner, Arch & Goodwin, Newark, N.J. *

Maryanne Trump Barry Maryanne Trump Barry (born April 5, 1937) is an American attorney and a retired United States federal judge. She became an Assistant United States Attorney in 1974, and was first appointed to the United States District Court for the District of ...

- U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Third Circuit * John Winslow Bissell - U.S. District Court Judge *

Matthew Boxer Matthew Boxer was the New Jersey State Comptroller. Matthew Boxer was sworn in as New Jersey's first independent state comptroller on January 17, 2008 after the recreation of the office in 2007. He served in this position until the end of his te ...

- Comptroller, State of New Jersey * Garrett Brown, Jr. - U.S. District Court Judge * Renee Bumb - U.S. District Court Judge *

Michael Chagares Michael Arthur Chagares (born May 1, 1962) is the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Education Chagares received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College in 1984 and his Juris Doctor from Seton H ...

- U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Third Circuit * Michael Chertoff - Former Secretary,

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

Stanley R. Chesler Stanley Richard Chesler (born June 15, 1947) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career Chesler graduated from Harpur College, now Binghamton University, in ...

- U.S. District Court Judge * Christopher J. Christie - Former

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

* John Farmer Jr. - Former Attorney General, State of New Jersey * Joseph Greenaway - U.S. Circuit Court Judge, Third Circuit * Gurbir Grewal - Former Bergen County Prosecutor and former Attorney General of New Jersey * Peter C. Harvey - Former Attorney General, State of New Jersey * Katharine Hayden - U.S. District Court Judge *

Noel Hillman Noel Lawrence Hillman (born December 22, 1956) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career Born in Red Bank, New Jersey, Hillman received a Bachelor of Arts ...

- U.S. District Court Judge; Former Chief, Public Integrity Section, U.S. Department of Justice * Richard Hughes - Former

; Former Chief Justice, New Jersey Supreme Court * David Lat - Blogger, Underneath their Robes and Above the Law *

William Martini William John Martini (born February 10, 1947 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, having been in active service from November 14, 2002, to February 10 ...

- U.S. District Court Judge; Former Congressman ( NJ-8) * Stuart Rabner - Chief Justice, New Jersey Supreme Court * Jerome Simandle - U.S. District Court Judge * Herbert Stern - former U.S. District Court Judge; former federal monitor,

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

fraud investigation

Officeholders

References

External links

Official District Court websiteOfficial U.S. Attorney's Office websiteVideo reviewing the first 225 years of the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, 1789-2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey New Jersey law New Jersey lawyers Newark, New Jersey Trenton, New Jersey Camden, New Jersey Prosecution