Benito Romano (born 1950) was the first Puerto Rican to hold a United States Attorney's post in New York on an interim basis.

Early life and education

Romano's parents moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and settled down in the Bronx where he was born and raised. His grandfather, a dairy farmer, immigrated from

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, Italy to Puerto Rico and married a local Puerto Rican woman. His family was poor, Romano grew up on Simpson Street in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

and his father worked in a factory that made cigarette holders.New York Times, "Interim U.S. Attorney: 'Street Smart' and Fair"
By DENNIS HEVESI; Published: January 11, 1989 Romano went to Morris High School where he played in the school's baseball and was good enough to be an All-City second baseman. After graduating from Morris High School Romano went to and graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1972. In 1976, he graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

earning his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree, and becoming the first member of his family to go to college. In 1977, he was admitted to the New York Bar.

Career

United States attorney

During his seven years in the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District, he was chief of the corruption unit under United States Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani at the height of the municipal scandals. Romano as chief of the public corruption unit, played a crucial role in the negotiations during which Geoffrey A. Lindenauer, an official in the city's Parking Violations Bureau, was persuaded to testify for the Government. Romano later was named associate United States attorney, the third-ranking position. Joseph A. Califano, Jr., the former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, hired Romano as director of the New York State Commission on Government Integrity and later recruited Romano to his law firm. On February 1, 1989, Romano was named the interim replacement for Giuliani as the Federal prosecutor in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Romano has endorsed the major insider-trading cases and the emphasis on drug, organized-crime and government-corruption prosecutions that began in Giuliani's term. When the New York Times headline ''An Italian Name'' was published describing the crime-fighting achievement of Romano, he was quick to clarify that he identifies himself as a Puerto Rican and not as an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. On September 7, 1989, President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

nominated Otto G. Obermaier, a defense lawyer, as the permanent successor to Giuliani and on September 22, 1989, Obermaier was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

as Giuliani's successor.

Private practice

Subsequent to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Romano was a partner for 20 years at the law firm of

Willkie Farr & Gallagher Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, commonly known as Willkie, is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1888, the firm specializes in corporate practice and employs more than 1200 lawyers in 15 offices acros ...

, and the leader of their white collar defense practice. He is currently a partner in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's litigation practice group in New York City, and focuses his practice on white collar defense including SEC,

FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that financial regulation, regulates member brokerage firms and exchange (organized market), exchange markets. ...

, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and related complex civil litigation. On April 17, 2006, Romano, who is married and the father of five children, was appointed by

New York City Police The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly to serve on the newly created, four-member legal advisory committee to the New York City Police Department.Benito Romano Appointed to Special NYPD Legal Advisory Committee
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References

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