CYNTHIA R. RYAN, CHIEF COUNSEL

Cynthia R. Ryan was appointed as the Chief Counsel of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on October 15, 1996. As the Chief Counsel, she is responsible for managing all the legal issues confronting the DEA worldwide and providing excellent quality and timely legal advice and training to all DEA employees (approximately 9,000, including 4,000 Special Agents). In recognition of her contributions to DEA, Ms. Ryan has received several performance awards including the Presidential Rank Award, Distinguished Executive, in 2001.

Ms. Ryan is the first DEA Chief Counsel to rise from the rank and file. She joined the DEA in May 1988 as a staff attorney in the Criminal Law Section, where she applied her criminal law experience as a prosecutor to the DEA operations, both domestic and foreign. Her tenacity and expertise facilitated the successful appeal process through the U.S. Supreme Court of U.S. v. Verdugo-Urquidez and U.S. v. Alvarez Machain.

With the increased counterdrug activities of the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community, she gained an expertise in information sharing between DEA and the various U.S. agencies. She also provided legal guidance to the El Paso Intelligence Center. To meet this expanding area, in 1991 she was instrumental in establishing the DEA International Law Section and served as its first chief.

Before joining DEA, Ms. Ryan was a Trial Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she coordinated and served as lead or co-counsel in more than 40 Federal obscenity cases, and as co-counsel successfully prosecuted the first Federal RICO case with obscenity predicate offenses.

As Staff Counsel on the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations, Ms. Ryan conducted anti-drug and organized crime investigations, prepared hearings, testified in hearings, and drafted legislation. In 1986, she prepared the first crack cocaine hearing and drafted provisions of the comprehensive anti-drug bill.

Ms. Ryan began her legal career as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of Delaware. During her six year tenure, she successfully prosecuted more than ten homicide cases and hundreds of felony cases.

She is a graduate of the Widener University School of Law and the University of Delaware, which in 1996 presented her with a Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement. Her interests include mentoring through her national sorority and the Presidential Management Intern program. She lives in Fairfax, Virginia with her husband, Matthew Ryan.