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Thursday, August 13, 2009
U.S. Attorney announces resignation
DAYTON - Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced Thursday, Aug. 13, that he will resign, effective at midnight on August 31.
Lockhart has served as U.S. Attorney since August 2001 when he was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Lockhart served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for 15 years prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney.
It is common for U.S. Attorneys to resign at the start of a new presidential administration.
“I deeply appreciate the opportunity to have served as the United States Attorney for over 8 years,” Lockhart wrote in his resignation letters to President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. “Service to our country has been a cornerstone of my adult life. Serving as the United States Attorney was indeed the highlight of that service.”
During Lockhart’s tenure, the office handled more than 25,000 cases involving more than 46,000 litigants. More than 3,400 indictments were returned charging more than 4,600 people with federal crimes. The office focused on prosecuting crimes involving terrorism, gun and gang crimes, fraud, and crimes involving the exploitation of children, according to a statement released by Lockhart’s office.
Notable prosecutions include: — the conviction of three people on charges of providing material support to terrorists. — the conviction in Columbus of eleven executives of National Century Financial Enterprises who were responsible for the $3.2 billion fraud that brought down that company. At the time, NCFE was the largest private securities fraud case ever prosecuted. — The prosecution in Cincinnati of executives of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals involved in a $459 million fraud scheme. — Leaders of an organized gambling ring in Dayton were convicted after more than a decade of operation there.
Lockhart also oversaw an asset forfeiture program that returned more than $33.2 million to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to assist them in their fight against crime in southern Ohio. He also helped secure nearly $8 million in Department of Justice grants for local law enforcement agencies and community groups.
Lockhart also expanded the coordination and training elements of the District’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council. He established the district’s Project Safe Childhood team that has successfully prosecuted more than three dozen sex offenders.
Lockhart said he will always appreciate the staff at the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“The success we have realized and the initiatives we have undertaken are due in large part to the outstanding professionals in this office,” Lockhart said in the statement. “I am grateful to them and to our federal, state and local partners in law enforcement. It has been an honor to work with them.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office, with a total staff of 108, represents more than five million people in 48 of Ohio’s 88 counties. The Southern District of Ohio includes the metropolitan areas of Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.
Prior to joining the U.S Attorney’s office, Lockhart practiced law privately between 1976 and 1987. Lockhart also worked as an assistant Greene County prosecutor, served as a legal advisor for the police departments of Xenia and Fairborn, and was a special prosecutor for Montgomery County.
Outside the office, Lockhart has taught at the University of Dayton’s College of Law and Wright State University’s Colleges of Political Science and Business. Lockhart has co-authored two publications: “Federal Grand Jury, A Guide To Law And Practice”, and “Pinkerton Liability Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines”.
Lockhart is a United States Air Force Veteran who served in Vietnam. Lockhart is a graduate of Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio (B.S. 1973), and The Ohio State University School of Law (J.D. 1976).
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