San Francisco is one of the world's great cities and lies at the point where the San Francisco Bay meets the Pacific Ocean.  It has a very diverse population and economy, from the banks and law firms of the Financial District to the entrepreneurs in Media Gulch to the artists of  SOMA (South of Market Street) to the small business owners in Chinatown to the tourism industry at Fisherman's Wharf.  San Francisco, despite its glittering reputation, also has underprivileged areas such as the Tenderloin and parts of the Mission and Hunters Point.  Like all large cities, San Francisco suffers from violent crime and narcotics trafficking.

San Jose Branch Office

The San Jose Branch of the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California serves the counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito, which have a combined population of 2.3 million.  The San Jose Branch Office prosecutes a wide variety of criminal cases, many of which derive from the staggering economic prosperity of Silicon Valley, the  home of more than 6,000 high-tech firms and worldwide headquarters to such major companies as Hewlett Packard, Applied Materials and Cisco Systems.  Silicon Valley has become fertile ground for high tech related crimes ranging from computer component theft and software piracy to theft of trade secrets and computer intrusions.  Second only to New York in annual exports, the Silicon Valley is also a center for illegal export activities. The vast amount of money in the area, along with the extremely high cost of living, has also created a rich environment for financial crimes including bank, mail and securities fraud.

San Jose is the eleventh largest city in the United States and, as such, is also plagued by the  array of violent crimes that infect every urban area in the country. San Jose is home to Vietnamese, Chinese and Hispanic gangs who are responsible for significant gun trafficking, assaults, homicides, extortion and drug trafficking.  Following Oakland's lead, the San Jose Branch Office has instituted Project Exile, a joint federal and state project designed to identify and prosecute federally illicit gun activity.  The South Bay is also a center for the manufacture of methamphetamine: approximately 80 percent of the methamphetamine manufactured in the Northern District is manufactured there. The office works closely with DEA and with the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the South Bay Methamphetamine Task Force in the prosecution of these cases.

Including the Chief and the Deputy Chief, the San Jose Branch Office currently has 15 Criminal AUSAs and one Special AUSA who has been cross-designated from the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office. The Deputy Chief heads the CHIP (Computer Hacking/Intellectual Property) Unit, which is dedicated to the prosecution of  high tech cases. Two Criminal AUSAs are responsible for narcotics cases, one AUSA is assigned to INS cases, one is assigned to Securities Fraud cases and the remaining AUSAs handle general and white collar crime cases.  In addition, two Civil Division AUSAs handle General Defensive cases.

Oakland Branch Office

The Oakland Branch of the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California serves the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa, which have a combined population of 2.35 million.  All federal crimes committed in either of these counties are assigned to one of the three United States District Judges sitting in Oakland.

The Oakland Branch Office prosecutes a wide variety of criminal cases, reflecting the broad diversity in demographics, economics and businesses in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.  Because many financial institutions and other corporations have moved a substantial portion of their operations from San Francisco to the East Bay, the Oakland office handles a heavy volume of economic crimes, from identity theft to major securities fraud cases.  As Silicon Valley expands from the South Bay to the surrounding communities, increasing numbers of high tech firms are establishing their headquarters in Alameda and, to a lesser extent, Contra Costa Counties.  Therefore, crimes related to the high tech industry, software piracy to Internet fraud, are becoming increasingly common in the Oakland office.

The East Bay communities have historically suffered from a high degree of violence caused by several rival narcotics trafficking groups.  While the most dominant groups have been largely eliminated by the combined efforts of local and federal law enforcement, the Oakland office continues to see a substantial volume of narcotics trafficking and firearms cases.  The District's Project Exile initiative began as a pilot project in Oakland and has expanded to Contra Costa County and southern Alameda County.

The Oakland Branch Office presently has 12 Criminal Division AUSAs.  Three are devoted to prosecuting narcotics cases; one each to special prosecutions, securities fraud, high tech crimes, and firearms cases; and the remaining five to general crimes. In addition, 3 Civil Division AUSAs handle general defensive and affirmative civil cases.