The U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. attorney. Since March 2026, Robert Frazer has served as the District's United States Attorney.
Organization
The office is organized into divisions handling civil, criminal, and appellate matters, in addition to the Special Prosecutions Division, which oversees political corruption investigations.Office Organization, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey The District of New Jersey is also divided into three vicinages: Newark, Trenton and Camden, with the southern two offices supervised by a Deputy U.S. Attorney. The office employs approximately 170 Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Serving the District of New Jersey, U.S. Attorney's Office It is the fifth-largest U.S. Attorney's Office in the nation, behind those in the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, Manhattan, and Miami.New Jersey Law Journal's Lawyer of the Year: Chris Christie, New Jersey Law Journal, December 27, 2006.
High-profile cases
Hugh Addonizio - Conviction of former Newark mayor on conspiracy and extortion charges BitClub Network (2019) - Indicted five individuals for operating and promoting the BitClub Network, an elaborate, worldwide Ponzi scheme that law enforcement estimates took in more than $1 billion from investors. Wayne Bryant - Conviction of former chairman of New Jersey Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee for funneling money to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in exchange for a no-show job at the university. Joseph Centanni (2020) - Filed a civil rights lawsuit against a major landlord who repeatedly engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment of numerous tenants and applicants. Cognizant (2019) - Charged the former president and the former chief legal officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. with violations of the FCPA in connection with a foreign bribery scheme. Crazy Eddie - Conviction of Eddie Antar, founder and CEO of Crazy Eddie, a consumer electronics chain, for fraud Walter Forbes - Conviction of former chairman of Cendant Corporation for fraud. EDGAR Hacking Attack (2019) - Indicted Artem Radchenko and Oleksandr Ieremenko for a large-scale, international conspiracy to hack into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR) system and profit by trading on critical information they stole. Fort Dix Six (2007) - Conviction of group of six radical Islamist men allegedly plotting attack on Fort Dix military base.5 Are Convicted of Conspiring to Attack Fort Dix, The New York Times, December 22, 2008. Fort Lee lane closure scandal (2014) Cornelius Gallagher - Guilty plea of New Jersey Congressman for tax evasionPaul Hoffman, Tiger in the Court, Playboy Press, 1979, p. 276. Nelson G. Gross - Conviction of former Republican state chairman on perjury and obstruction of justice charges Sharpe James (2008) - Conviction of former Newark mayor on corruption chargesFormer Mayor Guilty of Fraud in Newark Sales, The New York Times, April 17, 2008. Robert C. Janiszewski (2002) - Guilty plea of Hudson County Executive for tax evasion and briberyFormer Hudson County Leader Gets 41 Months in Corruption Case, The New York Times, March 25, 2005. John V. Kenny - Conviction of former Jersey City mayor and chairman of Hudson County Democratic Party on conspiracy, bribery, and extortion charges Charles Kushner (2004) - Guilty plea of real estate developer—and largest campaign donor to former New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey—for filing false tax returns and for attempting to retaliate against a witness in a federal criminal caseMajor Donor Admits Hiring Prostitute to Smear Witness, The New York Times, August 19, 2004. Hemant Lakhani (2005) - Conviction of black market arms dealer attempting to sell shoulder-fired missilesMan Accused of a Scheme to Sell Missiles Praised bin Laden on Tapes, The New York Times, January 9, 2005. Gene Levoff (2019) - indicted former Corporate secretary and Director of corporate law at Apple Inc. for orchestrating a five-year insider trading scheme. John A. Lynch, Jr. - Guilty plea of former president of New Jersey Senate for mail fraud and tax evasionEx-Leader of New Jersey Senate is Guilty of Corruption, The New York Times, September 16, 2006. Newark Violent Crime Initiative (VCI) (2018-2020) - awarded an Attorney General’s Award in October 2019 as the model for cooperative law enforcement among federal, state, county and city agencies. The VCI led to a 30 percent reduction in the number of shooting victims city-wide between 2017 and 2018 and another 39 percent decline in 2019. In 2020, a year in which violent crime spiked in various places across the country, Newark maintained the same low in the number of murders. Novartis/Alcon (2020) - Two deferred prosecution agreements regarding significant violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act at Greek and Vietnamese subsidiaries of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, resulting in penalties of $345 million, representing the second largest criminal and regulatory fine imposed against pharmaceutical companies under the FCPA. Operation Bid Rig (2002–2009) - Multi-stage political corruption sweep, resulting in arrest of Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, New Jersey Assemblymen Daniel Van Pelt and L. Harvey Smith, and Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega Operation Brace Yourself (2019) - Investigation and prosecution of sweeping durable medical equipment kickback schemes that resulted in the largest healthcare fraud takedown yet pursued by the Department. Purdue Pharma (2020) - prosecution of opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma L.P. for three felonies, including conspiracy to defraud the DEA and Anti-Kickback Statute violations—for its gross misconduct in misbranding and mismarketing OxyContin that amounted to over $8 billion in penalties. Samsam Ransomware (2018) - Indicted two Iranians—Faramarz Shahi Savandi and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri—for conducting the largest ransomware attack in the U.S. that crippled institutions in New Jersey and elsewhere. Sarah Brockington Bost (2002), Mayor of Irvington, New Jersey Martin Taccetta & Michael Taccetta (1987) - Unsuccessful prosecution of high-ranking members of The Jersey Crew, a faction of the Lucchese crime familyRobert Rudolph, The Boys from New Jersey: How the Mob Beat the Feds UMDNJ (2005) - Deferred prosecution agreement overseen by federal monitor Herbert Stern involving Medicaid double-billing and other cases of health care fraud at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Thomas J. Whelan - Conviction of mayor of Jersey City on conspiracy, bribery and extortion charges Woodcliff Lake (2018) - Filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Borough of Woodcliff Lake for violations of RLUIPA resulting from the Borough’s efforts to prevent an Orthodox Jewish congregation from building a new place of worship.
Prominent officeholders
Prominent assistant US attorneys Samuel Alito - associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court Carolyn Arch - partner, Arch & Goodwin, Newark, N.J. Maryanne Trump Barry - U.S. circuit court judge, Third Circuit John Winslow Bissell - U.S. district court judge Matthew Boxer - comptroller, State of New Jersey Garrett Brown, Jr. - U.S. district court judge Renée Marie Bumb - U.S. district court judge Michael Chagares - U.S. circuit court judge, Third Circuit Michael Chertoff - Former secretary, Department of Homeland Security Stanley R. Chesler - U.S. district court judge Chris Christie - Former governor of New Jersey John Farmer Jr. - Former attorney general, State of New Jersey Joseph Greenaway - U.S. circuit court judge, Third Circuit Gurbir Grewal - Former Bergen County prosecutor and former attorney general of New Jersey Peter C. Harvey - Former attorney general, State of New Jersey Katharine Hayden - U.S. district court judge Noel Hillman - U.S. district court judge; Former chief, Public Integrity Section, U.S. Department of Justice Richard J. Hughes - Former governor of New Jersey; Former chief justice, New Jersey Supreme Court David Lat - blogger, Underneath their Robes and Above the Law William Martini - U.S. district court judge; Former congressman (NJ-8) Stuart Rabner - chief justice, New Jersey Supreme Court Jerome Simandle - U.S. district court judge Herbert Stern - former U.S. district court judge; former federal monitor, UMDNJ Medicaid fraud investigation Mikie Sherrill - Governor of New Jersey
Officeholders
U.S. AttorneyTerm startedTerm endedAppointed byRichard Stockton 17891791George WashingtonAbraham Ogden 17911798Lucius Horatio Stockton17981801John AdamsFrederick Frelinghuysen 18011801George C. Maxwell18011803Thomas JeffersonWilliam S. Pennington 18031804Joseph McIlvaine 18041824Lucius Q.C. Elmer 18241829James MonroeGarret D. Wall 18291835Andrew JacksonJames S. Green18351850William Halstead 18501853Millard FillmoreGarret S. Cannon18531861Franklin PierceAnthony Q. Keasbey 18611886Abraham LincolnJob H. Lippincott 18861887Grover ClevelandSamuel F. Bigelow 18871888George S. Duryee18881890Henry S. White 18901894Benjamin HarrisonJohn W. Beekman 18941896Grover ClevelandJ. Kearney Rice18961900David Ogden Watkins 19001903William McKinley Cortlandt Parker, Jr.19031903Theodore RooseveltJohn Beam Vreeland 19031913J. Warren Davis 19131916Woodrow WilsonCharles Francis Lynch 19161919Joseph L. Bodine19191920Elmer H. Geran 19201922Walter G. Winne19221928 Warren HardingPhillip Forman19281932Calvin CoolidgeHarlan Besson19321935Herbert HooverJohn J. Quinn19351940Franklin D. RooseveltWilliam Francis Smith 19401941Charles M. Phillips19411943Thorn Lord19431945Edgar H. Rossbach19451948Harry TrumanIsaiah Matlack19481948Alfred E. Modarelli19481951Grover C. Richman, Jr.19511953William F. Tompkins19531954Dwight D. Eisenhower Raymond Del Tufo, Jr.19541956Herman Scott19561956Chester A. Weidenburner19561961David M. Satz, Jr.19611969John F. Kennedy Donald Horowitz19691969Lyndon B. JohnsonFrederick B. Lacey19691971Richard NixonHerbert J. Stern19711974Jonathan L. Goldstein19741977Robert J. Del Tufo19771980Jimmy CarterWilliam W. Robertson19801981W. Hunt Dumont19811985Ronald ReaganThomas W. Greelish19851987Samuel Alito December 10, 1987April 30, 1990Michael Chertoff 19901994George H. W. BushFaith S. Hochberg 19941999Bill ClintonRobert J. ClearyNovember 16, 1999January 17, 2002Chris Christie January 17, 2002December 1, 2008George W. BushRalph J. Marra Jr. (acting) December 1, 2008October 14, 2009Paul J. Fishman October 14, 2009March 10, 2017 Barack ObamaWilliam E. Fitzpatrick (acting) March 10, 2017January 5, 2018Donald TrumpCraig Carpenito January 5, 2018January 5, 2021Rachael A. Honig (acting) January 6, 2021December 15, 2021Joe BidenPhilip R. Sellinger December 16, 2021January 8, 2025Vikas Khanna (acting) January 9, 2025 March 3, 2025John Giordano (interim) March 3, 2025 March 27, 2025Donald TrumpAlina Habba (interim) March 28, 2025 July 24, 2025Alina Habba (acting) July 24, 2025 December 8, 2025 Robert Frazer March 23, 2026 presentU.S. Dist. Ct. for Dist. of N.J.
References
External links Official District Court website Official U.S. Attorney's Office website Thomas Library of Congress Video reviewing the first 225 years of the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, 1789-2014