President Free Tells CT Law Trib:
WHITEY BULGER CASE:
From 1998 to 2008, Mr. Durham served as a Special Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and Head of the Justice Task Force, where he reviewed alleged criminal conduct by FBI personnel and other law enforcement corruption in Boston, led the prosecution of a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and a former Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant, and handled direct appeals and related proceedings following convictions after trial.
Via Time Magazine:
Durham’s probe led to the conviction of retired FBI agent John Connolly Jr., sentenced to 10 years in prison for helping notorious Boston mobsters James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi avoid prosecution.
CT Chief U.S. District Judge Janet Hall administers the oath, 2-22-18.
-- PHOTO VIA CT US ATTY'S OFFICE
Official announcement via CT U.S. Attorney's Office:
JOHN H. DURHAM SWORN IN AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
John H. Durham, 67, of Groton, was sworn in [Thursday] as the presidentially appointed United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven.
Mr. Durham has served as the interim U.S. Attorney since October 28, 2017, after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed an order appointing him to the position. President Donald Trump nominated Mr. Durham to serve as U.S. Attorney on November 1, 2017, and the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination on February 16, 2018.
“I am very honored to serve as Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney and deeply appreciative of all who have supported my nomination,” said U.S. Attorney Durham. “I look forward to continuing to work with the dedicated and skilled people in our office and the brave men and women of our partner law enforcement agencies in the cause of justice for the people of our state and nation.”
Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Durham served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in various positions in the District of Connecticut for 35 years, prosecuting complex organized crime, violent crime, public corruption and financial fraud matters.
From 2008 to 2017, Mr. Durham served as Counsel to the U.S. Attorney; from 1994 to 2008, he served as the Deputy U.S. Attorney, and served as the U.S. Attorney in an acting and interim capacity in 1997 and 1998; from 1989 to 1994, he served as Chief of the Office’s Criminal Division, and from 1982 to 1989, he served as an attorney and then supervisor in the New Haven Field Office of the Boston Strike Force in the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section.
From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Durham also served as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he investigated matters relating to the destruction of certain videotapes by the CIA and the treatment of detainees by the CIA. From 1998 to 2008, Mr. Durham served as a Special Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and Head of the Justice Task Force, where he reviewed alleged criminal conduct by FBI personnel and other law enforcement corruption in Boston, led the prosecution of a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and a former Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant, and handled direct appeals and related proceedings following convictions after trial.
From 1978 to 1982, Mr. Durham served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office headed by Arnold Markle, and from 1977 to 1978, he served as a Deputy Assistant State’s Attorney in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.
From 1975 to 1977, Mr. Durham worked as a Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana.
Mr. Durham graduated, with honors, from Colgate University in 1972 and the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1975.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is charged with enforcing federal criminal laws in Connecticut and representing the federal government in civil litigation. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Durham supervises a staff of approximately 68 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and approximately 57 staff members at offices in New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport.
Mr. Durham is the 52nd U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, an office that was established in 1789.
