Carmen Ortiz Resigns: U.S. Attorney Made History in Massachusetts

BOSTON, MA — Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, the first Hispanic and first woman to hold that position and who has a litany of high-profile convictions under her belt, has announced she will be stepping down.

Ortiz, 60, tendered her resignation to the president and Department of Justice last week, her office said in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon. She spoke with Attorney General Loretta Lynch Tuesday to confirm her departure. She is stepping down effective Jan. 13, 2017.

President-elect Donald Trump will presumably appoint a Republican as Ortiz's successor. The U.S. Attorney is the state's top federal law enforcement official.

Ortiz was nominated for the position by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009. She broke ground as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, being the first Hispanic and first woman in that role.

During Ortiz's tenure, prosecutors convicted former Massachusetts Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi, gangster James “Whitey” Bulger and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Her office also indicted Boston City Hall officials on extortion charges in connection with the Boston Calling music festival. Ortiz was accused by a city lawyer as overstepping her mandate.

Ortiz said the following in the release:

“I have been honored to serve the people of Massachusetts as U.S. Attorney and to have been part of this Administration. It has been a privilege to work alongside some of the most talented professionals in the Department of Justice. Together we prosecuted many significant cases that have resonated around the nation. While I am excited about the future and look forward to embracing new challenges, I will miss participating in the important work this office is involved with on a daily basis. Some of the accomplishments of which I am the proudest have been in the areas of counterterrorism, white collar prosecutions, civil rights enforcement, combatting human trafficking and child exploitation, and community outreach. We have brought countless criminals to justice, sought recourse for many victims and survivors of crime, and worked tirelessly to make our communities safe and healthy places to live and work.”

“As I look ahead, I hope that my time in this office will reflect the many challenges and the vast and diverse caseload that I have overseen during the past seven years, from prosecuting violent crime and public corruption, to enforcing civil rights, to our broad reach into local faith communities, schools and neighborhoods. I will miss the many individuals and groups I have come to know well but I will especially miss my colleagues, many of whom I call my friends. They are some of the most knowledgeable, passionate and hardest-working prosecutors and justice professionals in the country, and it has been an honor to serve with them. I want to thank our many partners in law enforcement, from local and state police to county sheriffs and, of course, our federal partners, for their unwavering support, dedication and commitment to seeking justice.”

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Photo via justice.gov