The United States Attorney’s Office is as old as the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. Congress created the Western District of New York in 1900 by carving the 17 western-most counties from the Northern District of New York. See 31 Stat. L. 175. In doing so, Congress also created the position of the U.S. Attorney—who was then called the “district attorney”—for the Western District of New York. Since 1900, 28 individuals have served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York.

United States  Attorneys are appointed by the President of the United States for a term of four years, with appointments subject to confirmation by the Senate. A U.S. attorney continues in office, beyond the appointed term, until a successor is appointed and qualified. By law, each United States Attorney is subject to removal by the President. The Attorney General has had the authority since 1986 to appoint interim United States Attorneys to fill a vacancy.

The U.S. Attorney Office’s Criminal Division has investigated and prosecuted many cases that have had a lasting impact on Buffalo and Rochester, as well the country. For example, efforts with state and local law enforcement in Rochester led to the prosecution of various organized crime members of “A-Team” and “B-Team,” who were engaged in an all-out mob war during the 1970’s and 1980’s. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has also been at the forefront when it comes to prosecuting violent crimes, narcotics crimes, financial fraud crimes, crimes involving the online exploitation of children, and crimes involving human trafficking. It has disrupted and dismantled many drug gangs.

In the first significant post-9/11 terrorism prosecution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted a group of individuals who became known as the “Lackawanna Six” for providing material support to al-Qaeda. And in the area of environmental crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully convicted the Tonawanda Coke Corporation, after trial, for violating the Clean Air Act. That conviction resulted in the largest criminal fine for such a case.

The Office’s Civil Division has similarly been at the forefront of important litigation. For years, the Office worked with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to bring a lawsuit alleging that conditions at the Erie County Holding Center (a pre-trial detention center in Buffalo) and the Erie County Correctional Facility (a correctional facility in Alden) routinely and systematically deprive inmates of constitutional rights. In 2010, DOJ resolved a portion of its lawsuit against Erie County regarding suicide prevention and related mental health care following a series of suicides that occurred after the United States filed suit.  The remaining portions of the lawsuit were resolved in 2011.  The Office’s Civil Division also worked with the Office of Immigration Litigation to obtain an order denaturalizing Peter Kalimu, a former Buffalo resident believed to have participated in the Rwandan genocide.  Kalimu is believed to have participated in attacking Tutsi families in Rwanda and then looting their homes.  His alleged conduct was part of a genocide that led to the deaths of 800,000 people in Rwanda. The Justice Department ultimately obtained a court order revoking Kalimu’s naturalization.

As a result of the wide-ranging efforts of the Office’s Asset Recovery Division (“ARD”), millions of dollars in assets and monetary amounts are recovered annually.  These assets and monetary amounts are used to compensate victims of crime and to deter criminal activity by depriving criminals of property used or acquired through illegal activity.  These recoveries are a result of the work performed by ARD’s four litigating components: Asset Forfeiture, Financial Litigation, Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) and Bankruptcy. Over the years, substantial sums of money have been collected in cases involving drug trafficking, human trafficking, health care fraud, fraudulent receipt of federal compensation, HUD fraud, Buy American Act fraud, defense fraud, financial institution fraud, grant fraud involving a federal agency such as National Science Foundation or National Institute of Health, fraud involving the Veterans Administration, investment fraud schemes, and fraud schemes that exploited the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).  In one such case, a drug trafficking organization controlled drug sales in an entire neighborhood in Buffalo. The organization employed several family members to sell crack cocaine on a daily basis in the neighborhood.  In order to monopolize narcotics sales in the area, the organization threatened and intimidated rival narcotics traffickers and even purchased several homes in the area which were used for selling and storing the illegal narcotics. After the houses were forfeited to the government, funds from the Federal Asset Forfeiture Fund were used to pay for the demolition of the properties.

In another case, a company enrolled two independent diagnostic testing facilities (“IDTFs”) in New York State to obtain significantly higher reimbursements for remote cardiac monitoring services. Relators alleged that the New York IDTFs were sham offices and that the entity never performed remote cardiac monitor services from New York, despite billing Medicare for services purportedly rendered in New York. In addition to the relators’ allegations, the government’s investigation uncovered unlicensed technicians performing services for which the company billed Medicare. The ACE Section finalized a large settlement with this company.

The current United States Attorney, Trini E. Ross, was nominated by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2021, becoming the first black woman, and only the second woman and second black person, to hold the position in the Western District of New York. Ms. Ross is a native of Buffalo and received her J.D., cum laude, from The State University of New York, at Buffalo, School of Law, in 1992; her M.A. from Rutgers University in 1990; and her B.A. from The State University of New York, at Fredonia, in 1988. From 1995 to 2018, Ms. Ross was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, where she served as the Senior Litigation Counsel, Chief of the Anti-Fraud and Corruption Section and Deputy Chief of the White Collar and General Crimes Section. Between 2018 and October 2021, Ms. Ross served as the Director of Investigations, Legal Division, with the National Science Foundation’s Office of Inspector General. Ms. Ross has also been an adjunct professor at The State University of New York, at Buffalo, School of Law, since 2006. Ms. Ross also served as an Assistant Counsel with the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility from 2007 to 2009, and prior to joining DOJ was a civil litigation associate at a private law firm. Ms. Ross began her legal career serving as an Appellate Court Attorney for the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, from 1992 to 1994. She is the recipient of numerous professional and community service awards, including the Erie County Bar Association Lawyer of the Year, University of Buffalo School of law Distinguished Alumni, and was twice named as the Prosecutor of the Year by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.

The information on this page was compiled by United States Attorney Trini E. Ross and Assistant United States Attorneys Charlie Kruly and Tiffany Lee.

Trini E. Ross
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York

List of U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of New York

• Charles H. Brown: 1900–1906 (U.S. Atty. of Northern District since 1899, remained in the Western District)
• Lyman M. Bass: 1906–1909
• John Lord O’Brian: 1909–1914
• Stephen T. Lockwood: 1915–1922
• William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan: 1922–1924
• Thomas Penney, Jr.: 1924–1925
• Richard H. Templeton: 1925–1934
• George L. Grobe: 1934–1953
• John O. Henderson: 1953–1959
• Neil A. Farmelo: 1959–1961
• John T. Curtin: 1961–1967
• Thomas A. Kennelly: 1968
• Andrew F. Phelan: 1968–1969
• Edgar C. NeMoyer: 1969
• Kenneth Schroeder Jr.: 1969–1972
• John T. Elfvin: 1972–1975
• Richard Arcara: 1975–1981
• Roger P. Williams: 1981–1982*
• Salvatore R. Martoche: 1982–1986
• Roger P. Williams: 1986–1988*
• Dennis Vacco: 1988–1993
• Patrick H. NeMoyer: 1993–1997
• Denise O’Donnell: 1997–2001 **
• Michael A. Battle: 2002–2005 ***
• Terrance P. Flynn: 2006–2009
• William J. Hochul Jr.: 2010–2016
• James P. Kennedy Jr. 2017–2021*
• Trini E. Ross: 2021–present

*This indicates that these were not Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed United States Attorneys

**Ms. O’Donnell became the first woman ever to hold the position of top federal prosecutor in upstate New York.

*** Mr. Battle became the first black person to hold the position and he helped to establish the Rochester and Buffalo Federal Defender’s Offices in 1992 and served as a defender until 1995 .