Joseph Russoniello
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Joseph P. Russoniello (born October 12, 1941) is an American attorney who served two terms as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. Russoniello served his first term from 1982 to 1990 and his second term from 2008 to 2010.


Education and early career

Born in
Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
, Russoniello graduated in 1959 from
St. Peter's Preparatory School Saint Peter's Preparatory School (also known as Saint Peter's Prep or simply Prep) is an Private school, independent, College-preparatory school, preparatory, and Single-sex education, all-male day school located in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jers ...
in Jersey City. He received a B.S.S. degree from
Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...
in 1963 and a J.D. degree from
New York University Law School The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...
in 1966. After graduating from law school, Russoniello was appointed a Special Agent with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, and later served as an Assistant District Attorney for the
City and County of San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the ...
before joining Cooley Godward Kronish LLP in 1975.


U.S. Attorney: first term (1982–1990)

From January 1982 to March 1990, Russoniello served his first term as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. He personally prosecuted Larry Layton of the Peoples Temple for his part in the murder of Congressman
Leo Ryan Leo Joseph Ryan Jr. (May 5, 1925 – November 18, 1978) was an American teacher and Democratic Party politician who represented California's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 until his assassination ho ...
in Jonestown, Guyana, and tried several other high profile criminal and civil cases. His office prosecuted the
Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
and
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
corporations for their theft of IBM secrets; Jerry Whitworth and James D. Harper Jr. in separate espionage cases; and dozens of white collar crime cases involving financial institution fraud, money laundering, securities fraud, public corruption, defense procurement fraud, other government contract fraud, export control violations, copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting. Until his resignation, he was a member of the United States Attorney General's Advisory Committee, served as chairman of its White Collar Crime Subcommittee and was a member of the Economic Crime Council of the
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
.


Private practice and dean: (1990–2007)

Before returning to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Russoniello was senior counsel and resident in the San Francisco office of Cooley Godward Kronish LLP where he was a member of the Litigation department and the practice group for Business Crimes & Regulatory Defense. Russoniello also served as dean of the
San Francisco Law School San Francisco Law School is a private, for-profit law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest evening law school in the Western United States. History Founded in 1909, the school became non-profit in 1941 and mo ...
for five and a half years until his resignation in July 2007.


U.S. Attorney: second term (2008–2010)

In 2008, Russoniello was nominated again to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California (which encompasses the 15 counties from the Oregon-California border to Monterey, including the San Francisco Bay Area). Upon taking office, Russoniello indicated that his priorities during his second term would include
national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...
, helping to get guns off the street and prosecuting Internet
child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...
distribution. He is also overseeing his office's prosecution of
Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...
, former
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
outfielder and all-time
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
home run king, on
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
charges, as well as Ed Jew, former Member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors, legislative body within the government of San Francisco, government of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and polit ...
, on
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
and
bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
charges. Russoniello was succeeded in August 2010 by Melinda Haag.


Other affiliations

Russoniello is a member of the
American College of Trial Lawyers The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially tri ...
, the Edward McFetridge Inn of the
American Inns of Court American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
, the American Board of Trial Lawyers, the
American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...
and numerous civic and legal organizations. Russoniello was, until his recent appointment as
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
, a member of the National Review Board of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Co ...
(USCCB).


References


External links


U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of California Profile


* ttp://video.foxnews.com/v/3907972/your-dime-helping-criminals/ FoxNews.com Video: Your Dime Helping Criminals? {{DEFAULTSORT:Russoniello, Joseph Fairfield University alumni New York University School of Law alumni Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Deans of law schools in the United States United States attorneys for the Northern District of California Lawyers from Jersey City, New Jersey St. Peter's Preparatory School alumni 1941 births Living people