U.S. Department
of Justice
LEADERSHIP
Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck leads the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas along with EAUSA Rob Jones, EAUSA Krystal Walker, Criminal Chief John Pearson, Civil Chief Daniel Hu, and Appellate Chief Carmen Mitchell.
John G.E. Marck
Acting U.S. Attorney
John G.E. Marck began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in New York City where he prosecuted a high-volume caseload of major felonies, including murder, manslaughter, robbery and gang assault. He entered the Department of Justice as an AUSA in the Corpus Christi and Victoria Divisions of the Southern District of Texas and managed a diverse criminal docket that included charges of illegal reentry following deportation, alien smuggling, drug trafficking and other cartel-related offenses.
Marck continued his federal prosecution career in the National Security and Public Corruption Section and was later promoted to Associate Deputy Criminal Chief before being named First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the district.
Learn more on the USA page.
Rob Jones
Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney
Arthur R. “Rob” Jones started his career in 2002 as a line AUSA in the office’s Laredo Division, where he handled all aspects of border related crime. In 2011, he joined the office’s Houston-based Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces. Just prior to his appointment as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, Jones served as the deputy chief of the National Security and Public Corruption section.
Prior to becoming an AUSA, Rob served on active duty as a judge advocate and officer in the U.S. Air Force’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps from January 1995 to September 2002, specializing in criminal litigation. He separated from the Air Force in September 2002 to become an AUSA but continued to serve as a judge advocate in the Air Force Reserve until his retirement in February 2023.
Krystal Walker
Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney
Walker joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas in 2016 and has served as an AUSA in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions of the office. She has defended the United States and its agencies in employment discrimination, civil immigration and federal Torts Claims Act cases. She also prosecuted white collar cases while in the office’s Fraud Section. Additionally, she served on a detail assignment to the General Counsel’s Office for the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. She previously served as an AUSA in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Walker was a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills in the Northern District of Mississippi, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Parker in the Southern District of Mississippi and U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown in the Northern District of Mississippi. Before her clerkships, she practiced insurance defense and family law in the private sector.
She holds a Bachelor of Accountancy, cum laude, from Mississippi State University and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
John Pearson
Criminal Chief
John Pearson began his career with the Department of Justice in 2004 and joined the Southern District of Texas in 2012. Entering through the Attorney General’s Honors Program, he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, a Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, and a Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division.
During his time in the office, Pearson has worked as an AUSA in the Major Fraud, Program Fraud, and National Security & Public Corruption Sections. He has also served as the deputy chief of the Program Fraud and Major Fraud Sections, as well as the office’s financial crimes coordinator, health care fraud coordinator, and Hurricane Harvey working group coordinator. Immediately prior to his appointment as Criminal Chief, he served as an Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney under two different U.S. Attorneys.
Pearson holds a B.A. from Princeton University and a J.D. with high honors from the University of Texas School of Law. After graduating from law school, he served as a clerk to the Honorable H. Emory Widener, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He is a veteran of the United States Navy.
Daniel Hu
Civil Chief
Hu began his career with the Southern District of Texas in 1992. Since that time, he has served solely in the Civil Division as an AUSA, but has also handled criminal cases and argued appeals at the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Federal Circuit. Prior to becoming the chief of the Civil Division in 2016, he served as its deputy chief. In 2008, Hu led the first Border Fence condemnation team which dealt with 54 miles of land.
Prior to serving as an AUSA, he was in private practice and was a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Norman W. Black.
Hu is currently the Southwest Regional Governor for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He was also past president of the Federal Bar Association – Southern District of Texas Chapter, past director of the State Bar of Texas and past Commissioner on the Texas Access to Justice Commission.
Hu was born in New York City, New York. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from Rice University in Houston as well as a J.D. from the University of Texas Law School.
Carmen Mitchell
Appellate Chief
Mitchell began her career with the Southern District of Texas in 2008. Since that time, she has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Appellate Division where she authored direct appeals briefs and post-conviction responses, provided trial assistance to the Criminal Division, reviewed and edited briefs, presented at least 19 oral arguments before the Fifth Circuit and conducted trainings. Before becoming the chief of the Appellate Division in 2017, she served as its deputy chief.
Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she was a Harris County Assistant District Attorney in the Appellate Division in Houston for 11 years. While there, she worked on over 480 direct appeals, including eight capital murder death penalty appeals and presented more than 20 oral arguments, resulting in over 76 published opinions. She was also associate counsel on three respondent’s briefs in opposition in the U.S. Supreme Court while working at the Harris County D.A.’s Office.
Mitchell holds a B.A., cum laude, from Midwestern State University and a J.D., cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law.