United States Attorney for the Western District of New York<\/u><\/h4><\/div>The United States Attorney\u2019s 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 <\/em>31 Stat. L. 175. In doing so, Congress also created the position of the U.S. Attorney\u2014who was then called the \u201cdistrict attorney\u201d\u2014for the Western District of New York. Since 1900, 28 individuals have served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York.<\/p>\nUnited States \u00a0Attorneys are appointed by the\u00a0President of the United States<\/a>\u00a0for a term of four years,\u00a0with appointments subject to\u00a0confirmation<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0Senate<\/a>. A U.S. attorney continues in office, beyond the appointed term, until a successor is appointed and qualified.\u00a0By law, each United States Attorney is subject to removal by the President.\u00a0The\u00a0Attorney General<\/a>\u00a0has had the authority since 1986 to appoint interim United States Attorneys to fill a vacancy.<\/p>\nThe U.S. Attorney Office\u2019s 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 \u201cA-Team\u201d and \u201cB-Team,\u201d who were engaged in an all-out mob war during the 1970\u2019s and 1980\u2019s. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In the first significant post-9\/11 terrorism prosecution, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office prosecuted a group of individuals who became known as the \u201cLackawanna Six\u201d for providing material support to al-Qaeda. And in the area of environmental crimes, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The Office\u2019s Civil Division has similarly been at the forefront of important litigation. For years, the Office worked with the Department of Justice\u2019s 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.\u00a0 The remaining portions of the lawsuit were resolved in 2011.\u00a0 The Office\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Kalimu is believed to have participated in attacking Tutsi families in Rwanda and then looting their homes.\u00a0 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\u2019s naturalization.<\/p>\n
As a result of the wide-ranging efforts of the Office\u2019s Asset Recovery Division (\u201cARD\u201d), millions of dollars in assets and monetary amounts are recovered annually.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These recoveries are a result of the work performed by ARD\u2019s 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).\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
In another case, a company enrolled two independent diagnostic testing facilities (\u201cIDTFs\u201d) 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\u2019 allegations, the government\u2019s investigation uncovered unlicensed technicians performing services for which the company billed Medicare. The ACE Section finalized a large settlement with this company.<\/p>\n
The current United States Attorney, Michael DiGiacomo, was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York by Attorney General Pamela Bondi on February 28, 2025. Mr. DiGiacomo has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2002. He began in the Narcotics and Violent Crimes Division, where he prosecuted multi-defendant narcotics traffickers. Mr. DiGiacomo then moved to the White Collar and General Crimes Division, where he served as Chief for 10 years, supervising 12 attorneys and a deputy chief. Mr. DiGiacomo\u2019s White Collar prosecutions included child exploitation, defense procurement fraud, intellectual property violations, health care fraud, international parental kidnapping, and immigration offenses. In addition, Mr. DiGiacomo serves as the computer hacking and intellectual property coordinator for the Western District of New York. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, Mr. DiGiacomo was an attorney in private practice in Buffalo, NY.<\/p>\n<\/div>
The information on this page was compiled by Assistant United States Attorneys Charlie Kruly and Tiffany Lee.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"http:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/03\/IMG_5974-scaled.jpeg\" "\\"Michael")
<\/span><\/div>Michael DiGiacomo<\/span>
\nU.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>List of U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of New York<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Charles H. Brown: 1900\u20131906 (U.S. Atty. of Northern District since 1899, remained in the Western District)<\/li>\n
- Lyman M. Bass: 1906\u20131909<\/li>\n
- John Lord O’Brian: 1909\u20131914<\/li>\n
- Stephen T. Lockwood: 1915\u20131922<\/li>\n
- William J. \u201cWild Bill\u201d Donovan: 1922\u20131924<\/li>\n
- Thomas Penney, Jr.: 1924\u20131925<\/li>\n
- Richard H. Templeton: 1925\u20131934<\/li>\n
- George L. Grobe: 1934\u20131953<\/li>\n
- John O. Henderson: 1953\u20131959<\/li>\n
- Neil A. Farmelo: 1959\u20131961<\/li>\n
- John T. Curtin: 1961\u20131967<\/li>\n
- Thomas A. Kennelly: 1968<\/li>\n
- Andrew F. Phelan: 1968\u20131969<\/li>\n
- Edgar C. NeMoyer: 1969<\/li>\n
- Kenneth Schroeder Jr.: 1969\u20131972<\/li>\n
- John T. Elfvin: 1972\u20131975<\/li>\n
- Richard Arcara: 1975\u20131981<\/li>\n
- Roger P. Williams: 1981\u20131982<\/li>\n
- Salvatore R. Martoche: 1982\u20131986<\/li>\n
- Roger P. Williams: 1986\u20131988<\/li>\n
- Dennis Vacco: 1988\u20131993<\/li>\n
- Patrick H. NeMoyer: 1993\u20131997<\/li>\n
- Denise O’Donnell: 1997\u20132001<\/li>\n
- Michael A. Battle: 2002\u20132005<\/li>\n
- Terrance P. Flynn: 2006\u20132009<\/li>\n
- William J. Hochul Jr.: 2010\u20132016<\/li>\n
- James P. Kennedy Jr. 2017\u20132021<\/li>\n
- Trini E. Ross: 2021\u20132025<\/li>\n
- Michael DiGiacomo: 2025-Present<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"100-width.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3990","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3990"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5015,"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3990\/revisions\/5015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.ca2.uscourts.gov\/wdny-125\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The United States Attorney\u2019s 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 <\/em>31 Stat. L. 175. In doing so, Congress also created the position of the U.S. Attorney\u2014who was then called the \u201cdistrict attorney\u201d\u2014for the Western District of New York. Since 1900, 28 individuals have served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York.<\/p>\n United States \u00a0Attorneys are appointed by the\u00a0President of the United States<\/a>\u00a0for a term of four years,\u00a0with appointments subject to\u00a0confirmation<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0Senate<\/a>. A U.S. attorney continues in office, beyond the appointed term, until a successor is appointed and qualified.\u00a0By law, each United States Attorney is subject to removal by the President.\u00a0The\u00a0Attorney General<\/a>\u00a0has had the authority since 1986 to appoint interim United States Attorneys to fill a vacancy.<\/p>\n The U.S. Attorney Office\u2019s 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 \u201cA-Team\u201d and \u201cB-Team,\u201d who were engaged in an all-out mob war during the 1970\u2019s and 1980\u2019s. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n In the first significant post-9\/11 terrorism prosecution, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office prosecuted a group of individuals who became known as the \u201cLackawanna Six\u201d for providing material support to al-Qaeda. And in the area of environmental crimes, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The Office\u2019s Civil Division has similarly been at the forefront of important litigation. For years, the Office worked with the Department of Justice\u2019s 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.\u00a0 The remaining portions of the lawsuit were resolved in 2011.\u00a0 The Office\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Kalimu is believed to have participated in attacking Tutsi families in Rwanda and then looting their homes.\u00a0 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\u2019s naturalization.<\/p>\n As a result of the wide-ranging efforts of the Office\u2019s Asset Recovery Division (\u201cARD\u201d), millions of dollars in assets and monetary amounts are recovered annually.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 These recoveries are a result of the work performed by ARD\u2019s 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).\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n In another case, a company enrolled two independent diagnostic testing facilities (\u201cIDTFs\u201d) 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\u2019 allegations, the government\u2019s investigation uncovered unlicensed technicians performing services for which the company billed Medicare. The ACE Section finalized a large settlement with this company.<\/p>\n The current United States Attorney, Michael DiGiacomo, was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York by Attorney General Pamela Bondi on February 28, 2025. Mr. DiGiacomo has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2002. He began in the Narcotics and Violent Crimes Division, where he prosecuted multi-defendant narcotics traffickers. Mr. DiGiacomo then moved to the White Collar and General Crimes Division, where he served as Chief for 10 years, supervising 12 attorneys and a deputy chief. Mr. DiGiacomo\u2019s White Collar prosecutions included child exploitation, defense procurement fraud, intellectual property violations, health care fraud, international parental kidnapping, and immigration offenses. In addition, Mr. DiGiacomo serves as the computer hacking and intellectual property coordinator for the Western District of New York. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, Mr. DiGiacomo was an attorney in private practice in Buffalo, NY.<\/p>\n<\/div> The information on this page was compiled by Assistant United States Attorneys Charlie Kruly and Tiffany Lee.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Michael DiGiacomo<\/span> List of U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of New York<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>
\nU.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n