About The Office
The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of the largest in the country with 130 Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) currently on staff. There are 105 non-attorney positions in the office. The USAO is located at 615 Chestnut Street in downtown Philadelphia. The office is divided into two divisions: Criminal and Civil.
- The Organized Crime Team
- Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
- Financial Institution Fraud
- Government and Health Care Fraud
- Official Corruption, Fraud and Civil Rights
- Firearms
- Violent Crime, Terrorism and Immigration
- Frauds
- Computer Crimes
The Criminal division is the largest group of attorneys in the office. The division consists of 93 Assistant United States Attorneys. For management purposes, the Criminal Division is divided into eight teams. Each team has a team leader who also serves as the chief of cases in a particular subject. Attorneys in the Criminal Division are assigned to teams and the team leader serves as an administrative head of the team. Our criminal assistants are generalists within all areas of criminal law. The team leaders also serve as subject matter chiefs. They maintain expertise in these areas and maintain relationships with the investigative agencies in their subject matter. The sections are:
The Criminal Division also includes approximately 51 Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned from other federal agencies and local prosecutor's offices to handle firearms offenses and other rmatters.
|
The Civil Division consists of 25 attorneys. They represent the United States in civil actions, both defensive and affirmative. The affirmative litigation work includes fraud on the government, such as health care fraud, and environmental enforcement. Because the Eastern District has a large number of federal facilities, the office has a defense practice that includes all varieties of personal injury, including medical malpractice, Title VII litigation and defense of government agency action. Attorneys in the Civil Division do both affirmative and defensive litigation. Please go to the following links to learn more about our Civil Division: Affirmative Civil Enforcement, Predatory Lending, Whistleblower suits, Elder Abuse.
|
The responsibility in the U.S. Attorney's Office for dealing with both traditional and certain non-traditional organized criminal groups is assigned to the Organized Crime team. This team has the responsibility in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for coordinating federal invetigations and prosecutions in cases related to, and involving, the following criminal organizations: 1) La Cosa Nostra; 2) Eastern European/Russian organized crime groups; 3) Asian organized crime groups; and 4) criminal organizations orginating in Italy, including the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra, and the N'drangheta. The Organized Crime team also handles "special circumstance" investigations, as well as matters involving human trafficking and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The Organized Crime team is headed by a Chief and Deputy Chief. The staffing is augmented occasionally by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys from local, state and federal agencies. This underscores the advantage of cooperative law enforcement when investigating and prosecuting organized crime groups.
|
The Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section prosecutes violations of federal narcotics laws including the illegal trafficking of cocaine, crack, heroin, methamphetamine and other controlled substances. Federal prosecutions focus in particular on the importation of illegal narcotics, interstate, large-scale or organized drug trafficking, or individuals or groups that use violence in the course of drug dealing. State and local authorities, such as the Philadelphia Police and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, prosecute the vast majority of narcotics offenders. This office focuses its efforts on international, interstate and organized drug offenders, coordinating its efforts with the state and local authorities. The United States Attorney's Office also prosecutes cases involving the diversion of prescription drugs for illegal sale. The United States Attorney's Office participates in Weed & Seed, a program designed to create a partnership between law enforcement and community groups to improve neighborhoods. For more information on the Weed & Seed program, go to the following link - Weed & Seed - or contact Michele Rajsic of the U.S. Attorney's Office at (215) 861-8218. Criminal prosecutions brought by this office are most often investigated by one of the following federal agencies, frequently acting together with state and local authorities:
If anyone has information regarding narcotics trafficking, please contact Thomas Perricone, Chief of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section at (215) 861-8419, or one of the federal agencies listed above. The Philadelphia Police Department drug hotline is (215) 686-3784.
|
Financial Institution Fraud and Identity Theft The Financial Institution Fraud Section is responsible for prosecuting a broad spectrum of bank fraud acts and schemes designed to profit persons both inside and outside and institution. The Section also investigates/prosecutes crime in other related areas. Prosecutions supervised by the Financial Institution Fraud Section include:
The Chief of the Financial Institution Fraud is Richard Goldberg who may be contacted at (215) 861-8439.
|
Government Fraud, Health Care Fraud, and Environmental Crimes The Government Fraud, Health Care Fraud, and Environmental Crimes Section oversees federal criminal prosecutions of offense such as:
In appropriate cases involving health care fraud and fraud on government agencies, the criminal division coordinates with the office's Affirmative Civil Enforcement Program. If anyone has information regarding health care fraud, a fraud involving a government program, or an environmental crime, please contact Catherine Votaw, the Chief of the Government and Health Care Fraud Section, at (215) 861-8303. In addition, the FBI, or the Office of the Inspector General of Health and Human Services, (215) 861-4586, may be contacted.
|
Official Corruption, Fraud and Civil Rights The Official Corruption, Tax Fraud and Civil Rights Section handles the following matters:
If any information exists concerning the activity involving any of these types of offenses, please contact Richard Barrett, Chief of the Corruption, Labor Racketeering and Tax Section at (215) 861-8420.
|
The Firearms Section prosecutes the violations of federal laws in the following subject matters: Firearms and Explosives
To report a violation of these types of offenses, please contact a federal agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) at one of the following telephone numbers:
|
Violent Crimes, Terrorism & Immigration The Violent Crimes Terrorism and Immigrations Section investigates crimes which jeopardize public safety: bank robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, terrorism, extortion, and arson. Cases in this area are investigated by a federal agency, such as FBI, USSS, ICE, and ATF. This section coordinates the federal law response to International and Domestic terrorism threats and directs the state, federal and local, Anti Terrorism Task Force (ATTF). Allegations about crimes in this section should be made first to the federal investigatory agencies or a local police department if there is an immediate threat to public safety. The Chief of the Violent Crimes, Terrorism & Immigrations Section is David Webb and he can be reached at (215) 861-8450.
|
The Consumer and Commercial Fraud Section oversees federal criminal prosecution of offenses such as:
In addition to laws prohibiting specific unlawful activity, broad federal statutes protect against fraud, making any fraudulent scheme a federal crime if the United States mail or a courier service is used in its commission, or if interstate wire transfers, telephone calls, fax transmissions, e-mails or other interstate communications are used in the fraud. If anyone has information regarding frauds, please call the U.S. Attorney's Office, Fraud Section, at (215) 861-8570. Peter Schenck is the Chief of the Fraud Section. The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service may also be contacted at the telephone numbers previously listed.
|
Computer Crimes Section focuses on the ever-growing area of internet crime; computer intrusions, denial of service attacks, theft of intellectual property and child exploitation. Cases are primarily investigated by the FBI, United States Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Postal Service. Information on how to contact those agencies can be found on this website under "How to Report a Crime." The Chief of Computer Crimes, Michael L. Levy, can be reached at (215) 861-8599. |
Benjamin Franklin Photo by B. Krist for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation