United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan announced several major management changes today, including a new Chief of the Criminal Division, a new Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division (which is a newly created management position), a new Chief of the Civil Division, a new Chief of the San Jose office, and a new Chief of the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit ("CHIP Unit").  The new management changes come just more than a year after U.S. Attorney Ryan was sworn into office, and will become effective in two weeks.

Mr. Ryan appointed Ross Nadel as Chief of the Criminal Division, and Laurel Beeler will assume the responsibilities as the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.  The Criminal Division is responsible for the prosecution of all federal criminal cases in Northern California.  A graduate of Santa Clara Law School, Mr. Nadel is nationally recognized as an expert in prosecuting computer and intellectual property crimes.  He was the first Chief of the U.S. Attorney's CHIP Unit – the first of its kind in the country, and the model for high-tech prosecutions now being adopted by other United States Attorneys Offices throughout the country.  A seasoned prosecutor, Mr. Nadel has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 22 years in this office, and at various times in his career has served as Chiefs of the White Collar/Economic Crimes Unit, the Major Crimes Unit and the Organized Crime and  Drug Enforcement Unit (OCDETF).  Most recently he has been the Chief of the San Jose Branch Office while acting as Chief of the CHIP Unit.   He has a rich and varied prosecutorial background, but it is in the field of high-tech crime that Mr. Nadel is most renowned.  Under his stewardship, the CHIP Unit has prosecuted numerous cases involving hackers, economic and industrial espionage and theft of intellectual property.  Mr. Nadel is himself the prosecutor in a recently indicted case alleging economic espionage and other charges which stem from an alleged conspiracy carried out by the defendants to take trade secrets stolen from four Silicon Valley companies to the People's Republic of China.  This is only the second case in the country to be brought under the Economic Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1831.

U.S. Attorney Ryan said that the elevation of Mr. Nadel to the top post of criminal chief "signals the significance of computer and intellectual property and sophisticated white collar crimes in the Northern District of California."  Mr. Ryan described Mr. Nadel as a "prosecutor's prosecutor who has the leadership skills, savvy and judgment to make the tough calls that the criminal chief has to face every day."

Mr. Nadel replaces Charles "Ben" Burch, who has been criminal chief since Mr. Ryan became U.S. Attorney.  Mr. Ryan explained that Mr. Burch had agreed to serve as Mr. Ryan's Criminal Chief for one year to assist in  the transition of the office with the understanding that he could ultimately return to the Oakland office at the end of a year.  "Ben was absolutely the right person for the job at that point in time, and the entire office has benefitted from his wisdom, hard work and dedication. We have gotten off to a great start in large measure because of Ben. He has been invaluable this first year. "  Under Mr. Burch's leadership, the number of criminal cases has increased significantly, and the U.S. Attorney's Office has prosecuted a series of important cases, including prosecutions of corporate fraudsters, violent gangs and international money launderers.

Mr. Burch has agreed to return to the Oakland Branch Office where he will be the interim Chief (a role he previously held under U.S. Attorney Robert S. Mueller, III) while the Chief, Jack Laettner, continues to work full time on a homicide prosecution involving the heinous murders of three federal employees.

Ms. Beeler, will assume the new post of Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.  Ms. Beeler has been an AUSA for 8 years, and she has served in the White Collar Unit, the OCDETF Unit, the Major Crimes Unit, and has been the law clerk supervisor, as well as the Grand Jury coordinator. She also served as the Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit under U.S. Attorney Ryan before he granted her request to transfer to the Securities Fraud Unit.  Prior to joining the USAO, Ms. Beeler clerked for the Honorable Cecil Poole of the 9th Circuit, and before that was the Civil Appeals Chief, Office of Staff Attorneys, 9^th Circuit,  supervising six staff attorneys. Ms. Beeler will continue to prosecute securities fraud cases while serving as the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.  Ms. Beeler is a graduate of the University of Washington Law School.

In other moves, U.S. Attorney Ryan named Joann Swanson as Chief of the Civil Division.  The Civil Division is responsible for defending the United States in civil lawsuits, and in bringing affirmative lawsuits on behalf of the government to recover money under the False Claims Act.  Ms. Swanson is a seasoned civil attorney, having been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in this office for 17 years.  Ms Swanson has handled numerous and difficult defensive and affirmative civil investigations while an AUSA.  She is an expert in the prosecution of false claims cases.  In 1999, she was appointed the Deputy Chief of the Civil Division; in that capacity she supervised the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Section and the Financial Litigation Unit.  She has been serving as the Acting Civil Chief for the past several months.  Ms. Swanson is a graduate of the Hastings College of the Law.

To replace Mr. Nadel in San Jose, Mr. Ryan named Matthew Parrella as the Chief of the San Jose Branch Office and Christopher Sonderby as the new Chief of the CHIP Unit.  Mr. Parrella has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in San Jose for the last year specializing in high-tech crime.  Before that, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Nevada for 5 years, where he served as the Computer and Telecommunications Coordinator. He also has experience in the prosecution of White Collar/Economic Crimes, Public Corruption and Civil Rights matters. Prior to being a federal prosecutor, Mr. Parrella served as an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County, New York for 12 years, the last 8 of which he was assigned to the Homicide Bureau.  Mr. Parrella is a graduate of the Albany Law School of Union University. 

Mr. Sonderby, the new CHIP Unit Chief, has extensive experience in computer crimes.  Mr. Sonderby is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, and he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 5 years in the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of California.  He was the head of that office's Computer Crimes section and the Computer and Telecommunications Coordinator.  Earlier, Mr. Sonderby was a litigator with Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal in San Francisco for 5 years. Mr. Sonderby will be based in the San Jose Branch Office in the heart of the Silicon Valley.

Mr. Ryan noted that the changes announced today were the product of his assessment of  the office and the future direction in which he wants to take it.  "As a result of a great deal of work done before I got here by Bob Mueller and, most importantly, by the Assistants who are in court every day representing the United States, we have one of the premier U.S. Attorney's Offices in the nation.  These changes reflect the strengths of this office and the needs of this District as we move forward."