Uttam Anthony Singh Dhillon (born September 4, 1960) is an American attorney and law enforcement official who served as Acting

Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration The Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug trafficking and ...

from July 2, 2018, to May 18, 2020. He is married to

Janet Dhillon Janet Dhillon (née Wilcox) is an American lawyer. She is a former chair and commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, serving as commissioner from May 2019 to November 2022, and as chair from May 2019 to January 2021. Prior to ...

, a former commissioner of the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

Early life and education

Dhillon was born in

El Centro, California El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the most populous city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

parents. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

, a Master of Arts in psychology from the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, and a

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 ...

from the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was ...

Career

From 1990 to 1997, Dhillon served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he prosecuted major narcotics cases. Dhillon was appointed to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the United States, overseen by the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, dis ...

. As part of the task force, he coordinated with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to direct investigations of violent gangs and major narcotics trafficking organizations. Following his time in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Dhillon served as a senior investigative counsel for the

United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...

from 1997 to 1998, and the policy director for the

House Republican Policy Committee In the United States House of Representatives, the two major political parties maintain policy and steering committees. Their primary purpose is to assign fellow party members to other House committees, and they also advise party leaders on pol ...

in 2002. In 2003, he served as chief counsel and deputy staff director of the

United States House Committee on Homeland Security The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Role of the committ ...

. In 2006, Dhillon became the first director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement at the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the Interior minister, interior, Home Secretary ...

. Dhillon worked with President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

as deputy counsel and deputy assistant to the president. In 2018, Dhillon was appointed as the acting administrator of the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

. He resigned his position to take another DOJ role in May 2020. In July 2020, Dhillon was selected to serve as the director of

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Bureau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhillon, Uttam 1960 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Drug Enforcement Administration Administrators Assistant United States attorneys First Trump administration personnel Lawyers from Los Angeles University of California, San Diego alumni California State University, Sacramento alumni People from El Centro, California American jurists of Indian descent American people of Punjabi descent