The United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Philip Sellinger, announced his resignation today, effective at 11:59 p.m., Jan. 8, 2025. Mr. Sellinger made the following statement regarding his departure and tenure in office:
Serving as the United States Attorney has been the honor of a lifetime. My sincere thanks to President Biden for appointing me the temporary steward of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. I leave knowing the storied traditions of this Office will continue through our dedicated career Assistant U.S. Attorneys and staff. Here is just a fraction of their accomplishments over the past three years.
Violent Crime
Targeting New Jersey’s violent street gangs has been a top priority of my administration. Building on the Office’s strong tradition in this area, our Violent Crime Initiatives (“VCIs”) in Newark, Jersey City, Camden, and Paterson bring together our federal and local law enforcement partners to identify, investigate and prosecute the perpetrators driving shootings and the lethal drug trade in our communities. Rather than broadly imposing mandatory minimum sentences, we have reserved the most severe sentences for these drivers of violence. This targeted approach has proven extremely effective. Shootings and murders in New Jersey have fallen steadily year over year. The total number of shooting victims statewide fell from 1,166 in 2021, to 733 in 2023, and murder victims fell from 250 in 2021, to 190 total in 2023. In 2024, shootings and murders continue to decline.
And because our responsibility to protect vulnerable members of the community extends well beyond gang violence, after nearly a decade of skillful appellate advocacy, we obtained significant sentences for a husband and wife who inflicted years of devastating abuse on their three young foster children while living at the Picatinny Arsenal and elsewhere.
Civil Rights
I created the first standalone Civil Rights Division at any U.S. Attorney’s Office, bringing civil and criminal AUSAs together to combat hate and protect civil rights, including the alarming rise in hate incidents against our Black, Jewish and Muslim communities. We advanced the civil rights of the people of New Jersey in several areas.
We obtained the hate crime conviction of a man who committed a string of violent assaults—including carjackings—on visibly identifiable members of the Orthodox Jewish community around Lakewood, New Jersey. We obtained the conviction of a man who admitted to publishing a manifesto containing threats to attack a synagogue and Jewish people. And we secured a hate crime conviction against a man who admitted to breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, during the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, where he destroyed religious artifacts. We also charged an individual with throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Jewish temple, which charges remain pending.
We brought civil lawsuits to end systemic racism of communities of color by major banks in and around Newark and New Brunswick, obtaining remedies likely to result in $250 million in loans for the residents of Black, Hispanic, and Asian neighborhoods. We issued findings that New Jersey Veterans Homes provided grossly inadequate conditions resulting in some of the highest death rates in the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and secured a consent decree to protect the constitutional rights of the veterans. And after issuing a Findings Report regarding systemic violations of Fourth Amendment rights by the Trenton Police Department, we have taken significant steps to end unconstitutional policing in Trenton.
We also brought lawsuits securing the right of religious organizations to build temples and mosques in the face of discriminatory zoning policies. And we protected voting rights for Spanish speakers in Union County, and access to the polls for individuals with disabilities in Hudson and Morris Counties.
Economic Crimes and Government Fraud
My Office led the investigation into TD Bank’s pervasive failures to prevent money laundering networks from using the bank to move massive sums of illicit funds. Our investigation established that the bank did not monitor 92% of its funds, totaling $18 trillion, for a period of years. This allowed criminal money laundering networks to move over $670 million through the bank. The investigation recently culminated in TD Bank’s landmark guilty plea to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and conspiring to commit money laundering, resulting in over $1.8 billion in criminal penalties. We prosecuted and obtained convictions of a shadow CEO of a real estate firm for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme that scammed thousands of victims out of $658 million and an Army reservist who defrauded and stole from Gold Star families. We prosecuted several other securities fraud, insider trading and market manipulation cases.
And we charged the chief executive officer and a foreperson of a construction company hired by the city of Newark to replace lead pipes, whom we allege intentionally left lead pipes in the ground, endangering public health.
Cyber Crime
During my administration, our Cybercrime Unit achieved international prominence, leading the investigation of LockBit, then the most prolific and destructive ransomware group in the world. LockBit victims included hospitals, schools, nonprofit organizations, critical infrastructure facilities, and government and law-enforcement agencies across nearly 120 countries, including Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. Before being disrupted through the efforts of our Office and our international partners, LockBit had extracted over $500 million in ransom payments worldwide and caused billions of dollars in broader losses. We charged seven LockBit members, including its leader, and have obtained two convictions to date.
National Security
Our National Security Unit, working in partnership with the FBI and our state and local partners, has protected New Jersey from domestic and international threats.
We swiftly charged a former Marine for his threats to commit mass shootings targeting white people in New Jersey. We successfully prosecuted two individuals for concealing material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations Hamas and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). And we also charged three Chinese intelligence officers, along with a Chinese national, with conspiracy to act in the United States as agents of China. Among other things, the conspirators allegedly attempted to recruit an individual who was a former federal law enforcement officer and state homeland security official, and was then serving as a professor at an American university.
Health Care Fraud and Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement
Our Health Care Fraud Unit prosecuted individuals and companies responsible for defrauding government and private health care plans; government contract and customs fraud; unlawful kickback schemes; and fraudulently obtaining millions in federal COVID-19 relief loans. Our Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit aggressively prosecuted the crooked doctors, pharmacies, and sales representatives who put opioids on the street.
Civil Litigation and Asset Recovery
Our Civil Division successfully represented various branches of the United States government in a wide variety of civil and administrative litigation. Quite apart from the $1.8 Billion criminal penalty recovered from TD Bank, for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024, the District of New Jersey collected a total of over $599 million in criminal and civil debts, including restitution for victims, criminal fines, civil penalties, and in cases the office handled jointly with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice.
Office Transformation
Because of the office’s demonstrated track record, we secured a rare opportunity to hire more AUSAs and support staff. With over 165 AUSAs, the Office is now the largest, and the most impactful, it has ever been. At the same time, building on the office’s longstanding strengths in eLitigation, and U. S. Attorney Sellinger’s role as Chair of the DOJ-wide Elitigation Advisory Council, the office has substantially upgraded its capacity for electronic review of evidence.
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The attorneys and staff members of this Office are some of the finest public servants in the country. They work extraordinarily hard, uphold the highest standards of excellence, and ceaselessly pursue the cause of justice. It is their dedication and commitment that has enabled this Office to achieve so much over the past three years.
Acting U.S. Attorney
Upon United States Attorney Sellinger’s departure, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna will become Acting U.S. Attorney.
Pending Charges
With respect to all individuals and entities noted above against whom charges remain pending, the charges and allegations contained in the charging instruments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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After several years of dedicated service, Insider NJ’s Editor-in-Chief, Max Pizarro, has announced his resignation. Pizarro, who has been with the publication since its inception in 2009, made the announcement in a statement released on Monday.
In his statement, Pizarro expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work with Insider NJ and its team of talented journalists. He also thanked the publication’s readers and supporters for their continued support over the years.
Pizarro’s resignation comes at a time of transition for Insider NJ, as the publication looks to expand its coverage and reach a wider audience. In recent years, Insider NJ has established itself as a leading source of political news and analysis in New Jersey, covering everything from local elections to statewide policy debates.
While Pizarro’s departure is certainly a loss for Insider NJ, the publication remains committed to providing its readers with high-quality journalism and insightful commentary. The team at Insider NJ is currently in the process of searching for a new Editor-in-Chief to lead the publication into its next chapter.
In the meantime, Insider NJ will continue to deliver the same level of in-depth reporting and analysis that its readers have come to expect. With a dedicated team of journalists and contributors, Insider NJ remains a valuable resource for anyone interested in New Jersey politics and policy.
As Pizarro moves on to new opportunities, Insider NJ will undoubtedly continue to thrive as a trusted source of news and information for its readers. The publication’s commitment to excellence and integrity remains unwavering, ensuring that it will remain a vital part of the New Jersey media landscape for years to come.
