Robert J. Cleary (born September 30, 1955) is an American lawyer who has served as the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the District of New Jersey and for the

Southern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois (in case citations, S.D. Ill.) is a federal district court covering approximately the southern third of the state of Illinois. Appeals from the Southern District of Illinois ...

. He was the lead prosecutor in the

Unabomber Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...

case. He is currently Of counsel at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.

Biography

Cleary was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York in 1955. He graduated from

The College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

in 1977 with a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

and received his J.D. degree from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test t ...

in 1980. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1982 and to the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...

in 1983. From 1987 to 1994, Cleary served as an Assistant

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Establish ...

, eventually becoming Chief of the Major Crimes Unit. From to 1994 to 1999, he was the First Assistant

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

. In 1996, Cleary was appointed lead prosecutor in the Unabomber case, '' United States v. Theodore J. Kaczynski''. Kaczynski was charged with sending a series of

letter bomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with t ...

s from 1978 to 1995, killing three people and injuring 23. Kaczynski was convicted and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Cleary was sworn in as

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

on November 16, 1999, after his predecessor Faith S. Hochberg was appointed to be a federal judge on 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 ...

. He served in this position until January 17, 2002, when he was succeeded by Christopher J. Christie. Later in 2002, he was appointed as Acting United States Attorney for the

while nominee Miriam Miquelon awaited confirmation. In June 2002, Cleary joined the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

law firm

Proskauer Rose Proskauer Rose LLP (formerly known as Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, LLP) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1875 and currently employs more than 800 attorneys in twelve offices worldwide. P ...

as partner. In February 2006, in the wake of a police investigation codenamed

Operation Slapshot Operation Slapshot is the code name of an undercover police operation, spearheaded by New Jersey state police, against an illegal nationwide gambling ring. Details The operation was made public on February 6, 2006. Rick Tocchet, an assistant ...

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL had retained Cleary to conduct its own investigation into the involvement of

Rick Tocchet Richard Tocchet (; born April 9, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Playing as a right winger, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angel ...

, an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes, in an illegal bookmaking ring. After reviewing Cleary's report, Bettman announced in November 2007 that Tocchet would be reinstated in the NHL the following February. In January 2024, Cleary joined the

law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler as Of counsel. On February 27, 2024, the U.S. Trustee appointed Cleary as a bankruptcy examiner in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. On March 20, 2024, the appointment was approved by Delaware bankruptcy judge John T. Dorsey.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Robert J. Living people 1955 births Lawyers from Brooklyn College of William & Mary alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni United States Attorneys for the District of New Jersey United States Attorneys for the Southern District of Illinois Proskauer Rose partners New Jersey lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers