Federal officials have announced eight new assistant U.S. attorneys for the Northern District of Georgia.
One of them, Mary Jane Stewart, as referred to in a press release is “a career public servant.”
Stewart, the press release went on to say, has returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office as Senior Trial Counsel in the Criminal Division. This, after she served more than four years as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, and then as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the district.
In February, Stewart took over as acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. This, after U.S. President Joe Biden requested the resignation of U.S. Attorney Don Cochran. Cochran was appointed by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Cherri Green told The Tennessee Star in an email at the time that U.S. Attorneys “serve at the will and pleasure of the President.”
The press release said Stewart has handled hundreds of criminal cases and tried scores of jury trials.
Other new U.S. Attorneys for the Northern District of Georgia include the following:
• Larry Sommerfeld has rejoined the office as Chief of Appeals and Legal Advice. Sommerfeld held a partnership at the Atlanta-based Alston & Bird where he was a member of the firm’s Litigation and Trial Practice Group and its Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy Team. According to Open Secrets, Alston & Bird donated nearly 60 percent of its political contributions to Democrats in 2020, including Biden, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
• Jeffrey Davis returns from the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office. Davis will serve as Special Counsel in the Criminal Division.
• Aileen Bell Hughes will serve as Special Counsel in the Civil Division of the Northern Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Sharon Lim, who will serve in the Civil Division.
• Natasha Cooper will serve in the Criminal Division.
• Norman Barnett will serve in the Criminal Division. Barnett served as a Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted homicides, serious violent felonies, and organized crime cases.
• Vivieon Kelly Jones joins the office from the Department of Justice in Washington, where she served as a trial attorney in the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Trustee Program.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mary Jane Stewart” by Justice.gov. Photo “Larry Sommerfeld” by Larry Sommerfeld. Background Photo “Northern District of Georgia” by The U.S. Attorney’s Office – Northern District of Georgia.
