Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces The Appointment Of Chief Public Information Officer
Appointment of Senior Public Affairs Officer & Director of New Media Also Announced
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, today announced the appointment of James M. Margolin as the Office’s Chief Public Information Officer.
Mr. Margolin comes to the Office from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), where he has been a Public Information Officer for the New York field office since 1996. During his tenure with the FBI Public Information Office, Mr. Margolin handled a broad range of media matters related to FBI cases, including the investigations and prosecutions related to the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; the 2001 al Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center towers; the Martha Stewart-Imclone securities fraud investigation; the investigation and prosecution of former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik; the investigation and prosecution of Bernard L. Madoff and others; and the “Operation Perfect Hedge” investigations and prosecutions of insider trading, including the prosecutions of Raj Rajaratnam, Rajat Gupta and others. He further oversaw FBI media operations related to the investigations and prosecutions of attempted Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, former New York State Senator Carl Kruger, and three individuals charged with critical roles in creating and distributing the Gozi Virus, among many other cases. From 1988 to 1996, Mr. Margolin also served as a Special Agent in the Organized Crime Branch of the New York FBI office, where he investigated Asian gangs and La Cosa Nostra for extortion, racketeering, and murder.
Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Margolin worked as an Assistant Vice President and Counsel at First Fidelity Bank, in Newark, NJ, from 1987 to 1988, and an Associate at Hawkins, Delafield & Wood, in New York, New York, from 1981 to 1987. He is a 1978 cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, and a 1981 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law.
In making the appointment, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Jim has been a great representative of the FBI and a great partner to this Office for many years. He is admired and respected by law enforcement and by journalists with whom he deals on a daily basis, for his professionalism, integrity and candor. We are thrilled that he is joining us and will be leading our Public Information Office and the terrific people in it.”
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Additionally, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the appointment of Jerika Richardson, a Public Affairs Specialist, as the Office’s Senior Public Affairs Officer & Director of New Media. Ms. Richardson has served in the Public Information Office as a Public Affairs Specialist since 2011. Prior to coming to the Office, Ms. Richardson worked at ABC News, in New York, NY, from 2007 to 2011, where she covered law and justice, financial, and breaking news as a Field Producer and Off-Air Reporter. Some of her more notable stories include the 2011 Tucson Shooting, the Bernard Madoff Case, and the Gulf Oil Spill. Ms. Richardson also served as a producer for the network during the 2010 midterm and 2008 general elections. She is a 2003 cum laude graduate of Spelman College, and a 2007 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
In making the appointment, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Jerika has been a tremendous resource in the Public Information Office, and in addition to enjoying a great reputation among journalists, she has been a driving force in the Office’s efforts to enhance its outreach to the public through new media.”
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