Russell M. Coleman Sworn In As United States Attorney

 Western Kentucky native with deep law enforcement background assumes leadership of United States Attorney’s Office

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  – Russell M. Coleman has today taken the oath of office to become the United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.  Mr. Coleman was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 19, 2017, and confirmed by the United States Senate on September 14, 2017.  The oath of office was administered today by United States District Judge David J. Hale.

“I am deeply honored to be appointed by the President to serve alongside the talented professionals of the Western District U.S. Attorney's Office,” stated United States Attorney Russell Coleman. “At a time when our Commonwealth is losing its sons and daughters to drug overdoses at the highest rate in its history and our largest city is enduring an unprecedented increase in its murder rate, I am committed to using every statutory tool in our toolkit to aggressively aid our law enforcement partners in this fight.”  

As United States Attorney, Mr. Coleman is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Western District of Kentucky. The Western District of Kentucky encompasses 53 counties with a population of more than 2.2 million, two military installations, and four federal judicial divisions with courthouses in Louisville, Bowling Green, Paducah, and Owensboro.

United States Attorney Russell Coleman will oversee a staff of 82 persons, including 36 attorneys, 39 non-attorney support personnel, and 7 federal contractors. The Office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the District, including crimes related to firearms, narcotics, public corruption, child exploitation, wire and bank fraud, and terrorism. The Office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.

Russell M. Coleman grew up in rural Western Kentucky, having been raised in Daviess and Logan Counties, graduating from Logan County High School.  U.S. Attorney Coleman received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Kentucky. He received his Juris Doctor from the UK College of Law in 2004 and was awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude, in 1998. 

Mr. Coleman has more than a decade of experience working in federal positions where he was engaged in federal law enforcement matters. He served as Senior Advisor and Legal Counsel to United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, working during that period as a liaison with Kentucky law enforcement on such efforts as expanding the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program to include Hardin and Nelson Counties. Prior to his five years in Senator McConnell’s office, USA Coleman served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and worked as Briefing Coordinator to two U.S. Attorneys General at the U.S. Department of Justice.

While an FBI Special Agent, USA Coleman investigated a diverse portfolio of national security, white collar, and violent crime matters. He served as FBI Indianapolis Division’s Back-Up Chief Division Counsel, was a certified FBI Crisis (Hostage) Negotiator, and served as an on-record Media Spokesperson for the FBI’s Indianapolis Division. He was elected as the only Special Agent representative to the FBI Director’s Employees with Disabilities Advisory Committee. Russell was temporarily assigned to the National Joint Terrorism Task Force and volunteered for a 2007 assignment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in Anbar Province, Republic of Iraq.

Most recently USA Coleman was in private practice as a partner at the law firm of Frost Brown Todd, LLC. From 2015 through 2017, he served as a volunteer Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the Hon. Courtney T. Baxter, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 12^th Judicial Circuit (Oldham County). He has been a member of the Kentucky Bar Association since 2004 and currently sits on the Executive Board of the Kentucky Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Other affiliations include Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, FBI Agents Association, and the KY Narcotic Officers Association.