Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez is an American lawyer who 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 Puerto Rico The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (in case citations, D.P.R.; ) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San Juan. The main building is t ...

from 2007 to 2019. She is a career prosecutor, starting in the

Puerto Rico Department of Justice The Puerto Rico Department of Justice (PR DOJ) () is the Executive Department of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico responsible for the enforcement of the local law in the commonwealth and the administration of justice. The Department is equival ...

and subsequently in the

U.S. Attorney's office 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 ...

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Education and early career

Rodríguez-Vélez holds a master's degree in Criminal Justice (1974) and a Juris Doctor Degree (1977) from the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law The Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law () is the school of law of the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corporation accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Commissi ...

. She is a member of Eta Gamma Delta sorority. She was appointed by Governor

Carlos Romero Barceló Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He als ...

as a local district attorney in 1979. She subsequently crossed over to the federal level, serving in different prosecution and managerial roles within the United States Attorney's office.

U.S. attorney for District of Puerto Rico

She was appointed

for the District of Puerto Rico by the

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

in June 2006 and nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

in January 2007. On October 13, 2007, the judges of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico unanimously authorized Chief Judge José A. Fusté to extend her appointment for four years, until October 12, 2011. On October 13, 2011, after no other U.S. president nominated her again, she was sworn into a second term by Chief Judge Aida Delgado. Her appointments were never confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. Her term as U.S. attorney ended on November 30, 2019, when she retired after 31 years of service in the United States Department of Justice.

Prominent cases

In October 2010, she stood beside Attorney General

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Holder was the first African Ameri ...

at the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

headquarters as he announced the arrest of 89 police officers and 44 other people in Puerto Rico for facilitating drug deals in Operation Guard Shack, in what has been described as the largest law enforcement corruption probe in FBI history.

References

External links

Official Profile
USAO
Office of the United States Attorneys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Rosa Emilia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century Puerto Rican lawyers 20th-century Puerto Rican women lawyers 21st-century Puerto Rican lawyers 21st-century Puerto Rican women lawyers Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni United States attorneys for the District of Puerto Rico

Education and early career

U.S. attorney for District of Puerto Rico

Prominent cases

See also

References

External links