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WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today said that George A. Stamboulidis will be the lead prosecutor in the federal government's case against former Los Alamos engineer Wen Ho Lee. Stamboulidis, a veteran federal prosecutor, will start begin his new post on May 30.

On December 10, 1999, a federal grand jury returned a 59-count indictment against Lee, charging Lee with violations of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The indictment alleges that Lee tampered with and concealed classified information related to nuclear weapons while he was employed at the Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Trial is scheduled to begin November 6, 2000, in the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Stamboulidis is a chief in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he heads the Long Island offices. For 11 years, Stamboulidis has prosecuted cases in New York involving organized crime, public corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, and fraud. He joined the U.S. Attorney's Office as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and has served as the Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Section in that office.

During the 1990's, Stamboulidis won convictions in prosecutions against notorious organized crime figures, including Vincent Gigante, boss of the Genovese Family, and more than two dozen members of the Luchese, Colombo and Gambino crime families. He received the Justice Department Director's Award in 1994, 1995 and 1999 for convicting and imprisoning these criminals.

Stamboulidis also has won convictions in significant prosecutions involving public officials on Long Island. Earlier this month, FBI Director Louis J. Freeh commended Stamboulidis for convicting more than two dozen individuals in a racketeering enterprise involving truck theft and chop shop rings, as well as extortion by political party officers.

In addition, Freeh has also praised Stamboulidis for his key role in investigating and diminishing the influence and viability of the Colombo crime family.

Prior to joining the Justice Department through its Honors Program in 1988, Stamboulidis served as a clerk for U.S. District Judge Louis Bechtle in Philadelphia. Born in Alabama, Mr. Stamboulidis graduated with honors from the State University of New York-Stony Brook and Temple University School of Law.

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