Top federal prosecutor for LI announces high-ranking appointments

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor for Brooklyn and Long Island, on Friday announced the appointments of several veteran prosecutors to his leadership team.

"The people of our great district should be as proud as I am to have this team of incredibly talented and dedicated attorneys to advance our office’s mission," he said.

Peace, who began serving as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York in October after he was appointed by President Joe Biden, named Susan Riley, a 28-year veteran of the office, as counsel to the U.S. attorney.

Riley, who was appointed last year as acting executive assistant U.S. attorney, previously served as the office’s Civil Division chief for more than 17 years. During that time, prosecutors recouped more than $34 billion in damages, fines, penalties and victim restitution, and approximately $2.5 billion in assets that were forfeited, according to a memo announcing the appointments.

Nicole Boeckmann has been named chief of the Long Island office in Central Islip and will oversee its criminal, civil and administrative divisions, the memo said. Boeckmann was among the team of prosecutors who successfully tried ex-Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and his government corruption chief Christopher McPartland on corruption charges in 2019. Both men are serving 5-year prison terms.

Boeckmann, a nearly 18-year veteran of the office who most recently had the title of chief assistant U.S. attorney, also has prosecuted several gang members for crimes such as murder and racketeering.

Judy Philips, the former acting U.S. attorney and first assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Hawaii, will return to the Brooklyn office as executive assistant U.S. attorney on Tuesday.

Philips joined the office in 1997 and tried a number of significant violent-gang and narcotics cases before joining the Hawaii U.S. attorney's office in May 2018.

Peace appointed Kristin Mace as chief of the Criminal Division. Mace, an 11-year veteran of the office, has served as the acting chief since June. She has previously served as the chief of the Organized Crime and Gangs Sections and has prosecuted members of the Bonanno and Gambino crime families.

Joseph Marutollo has been appointed chief of the Civil Division. He has served as the acting chief for the past year and joined the office in 2015. Marutollo has successfully represented the government in several lawsuits involving personal injury claims, immigration, and health care fraud matters at trial and on appeal.

Alix Smith has been appointed the deputy chief of the Criminal Division. Smith was most recently the acting deputy chief of the Criminal Division and during her nearly 10 years in the office prosecuted several white-collar cases, including self-proclaimed "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli, who was convicted of defrauding hedge fund investors.

David Pitluck has been appointed chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section, and Hiral Mehta has been appointed deputy chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section.

"I look forward to our work together to pursue equal justice under the law, keep the community safe and improve the lives of the residents of the Eastern District of New York," Peace said of his newly assembled team.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.