Gilberto “Gil” de Jesús
Gilberto “Gil” de Jesús is the Chief Counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. He is responsible for legal policy on all aspects of Agency programs and activities, including the development, issuance, interpretation, enforcement, and defense of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations before state and federal courts. He supervises a legal team of over 40 attorneys that provide legal support on budget, procurement, fiscal law, ethics, personnel and employment related matters, as well as policy and programmatic matters.
Background
Prior to joining the DOT, Gil was a Senior Legal Advisor to the Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Communication and Business Opportunities (OCBO) in Washington, D.C. There he advised the FCC on rulemakings, policies, and other matters affecting small businesses and worked to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers that impeded small business growth and efficiency. He also promoted business opportunities for small, women, and minority owned communications businesses by bringing lenders, entrepreneurs, prime contractors and subcontractors together at OCBO sponsored capitalization and supplier diversity workshops.
Gil previously worked for US Senator Ben Cardin and helped direct the Senator’s efforts on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. There he drafted legislation to curb the abuse of contract bundling that affected small entrepreneurs doing business with the federal government, legislation that increased the SBA’s surety bond guarantees limits, as well as other legislation designed to improve the business climate for small entrepreneurs.
Gil was also the first Hispanic appointed to serve in a cabinet level position in Maryland, where he served as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice. He is a former Assistant United States Attorney where he investigated, indicted, and prosecuted murder, drug, embezzlement, and bank fraud cases, as well as other crimes.
After leaving the United States Attorney’s Office, he worked as an attorney in the Office of International Affairs at the US Department of Justice, serving as legal advisor to federal and state prosecutors on issues of international law enforcement. He was a liaison with foreign diplomatic missions from Latin America, Interpol, and represented the United States Government in treaty negotiations with other countries.
Gil currently serves on the board of the Baltimore Development Corporation and recently finished his term as Vice Chair for the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a founding member of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Education
He earned his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from the National Law Center at George Washington University.