Source: Office of United States Attorneys
John J. Durham has begun serving as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York as per the authority of Acting United States Attorney General James R. McHenry III. Mr. Durham was sworn in on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 by United States District Judge Joanna Seybert. He will serve as Interim United States Attorney for a period of 120 days or until a Presidential nominee has been confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Durham has served as Chief of the Long Island Division and Chief of the Criminal Section of the Long Island Division since June 2024 to the present.
“As someone who has served this Office for nearly 20 years, it is truly an honor to be appointed as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York,” stated John J. Durham. “Our mission remains steadfast and vital: to combat the greatest threats to this district – from violent crime, terrorism and drug trafficking to cybercrime, corruption, white-collar fraud and civil litigation – uphold the rule of law and pursue justice. I, along with my team of dedicated public servants in this great Office will never waver in our mission to protect the over eight million residents of this district, and the nation at large.”
Mr. Durham joined the Office in October 2005 and has served in the General Crimes and Long Island Criminal Sections. He has been appointed to several leadership positions in the Office and the Department of Justice, including Deputy Chief for the Long Island Criminal Section, the Office’s Capital Case Coordinator, the Attorney General’s Review Committee on Capital Cases and Chair of the MS-13 Subcommittee of the Attorney General’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force. In August 2019, Mr. Durham was appointed to serve as the Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), a Department of Justice initiative to combat La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), where he spearheaded indictments against MS-13’s highest-ranking international leaders.
During his time in the Office, Mr. Durham has investigated, prosecuted, and supervised a broad range of federal offenses, including racketeering, murders, terrorism, civil rights, obstruction of justice, armed robberies, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, firearms and public corruption. Most significantly, he has directed the Office’s efforts to dismantle the operations of MS-13 in the EDNY, as well as nationally and internationally. In a series of EDNY indictments, he has led teams of AUSAs and investigators that have arrested and convicted hundreds of MS-13 leaders, members and associates on charges related to more than 70 murders committed in this district between January 2008 and the present.
As the Director of JTFV, Mr. Durham led a team of prosecutors and law enforcement officers from across the country and secured significant indictments against MS-13’s command and control structure across the United States, Central America and Mexico, including the first use of national security charges against MS-13 leaders. In addition to his work combatting MS-13, Mr. Durham has prosecuted defendants who attempted to travel to Yemen for the purpose of joining al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and fighting jihad against United States allies, and members of numerous other violent criminal organizations, including the Bloods, 18th Street gang, Crips, Salvadorans With Pride and violent narcotics trafficking and robbery crews. In addition to his violent crime work, Mr. Durham has prosecuted several significant and sensitive public corruption and civil rights matters, including cases brought against the former Chief of Department for the Suffolk County Police Department, the former Suffolk County District Attorney and former Chief of Investigations and Chief of the Government Corruption Bureau for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, a then-sitting Nassau County Legislator, a New York City Police Department sergeant and a Food and Drug Administration official.
Among other awards, John is the recipient of the Charles E. Rose Award; Henry L. Stimson Medal; EOUSA Director’s Award for Superior Performance; National Association of Former United States Attorneys Exceptional Service Award; and several Federal Law Enforcement Foundation Awards.
John graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1998 and from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2001. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Stephen C. Robinson in the Southern District of New York.