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Andrew Lelling
Official portrait, 2017
United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
In office
December 21, 2017 – February 28, 2021
President
Preceded byCarmen Ortiz
Succeeded byRachael Rollins
Personal details
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseDana Gershengorn
Children2
Education
[1][2]

Andrew E. Lelling[3] (born 1970) is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 2017 to 2021. He is best known for leading Operation Varsity Blues, the federal investigation and prosecution of a massive nationwide college admissions scandal,[4] He also oversaw the largest-ever prosecution of MS-13, which all but eliminated the notorious Salvadoran gang in the Boston area[5][6] and the prosecution of six eBay employees involved in the eBay stalking scandal which involved the terrorizing of a middle-aged couple living in greater Boston, Massachusetts.[7] His tenure was also marked by major gang and healthcare enforcement actions.[8][9] Lelling, however, was also criticized by some as being "overzealous, grandstanding, and politically motivated" for his prosecution of a local trial judge who helped an undocumented immigrant charged with drug crimes avoid arrest by immigration authorities.[10]

Early life and education

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Lelling grew up in Rockland County, New York, the son of Irwin, a dentist, and Selma.[2] Lelling received a Bachelor of Arts in literature and rhetoric from Binghamton University in 1991 and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1994.[11] Lelling clerked for Berry Avant Edenfield of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. He went on to serve as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General at the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.

U.S. Attorney's Office

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At the time of his nomination to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Lelling had served for 12 years as senior litigation counsel for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, prosecuting white collar crime, international drug trafficking, and other offenses.[12][13] He is a member of the Federalist Society and a former member of the Boston Bar Journal's board of editors.[11] He assumed office on December 21, 2017.

During his tenure with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts, Lelling led the prosecution of a billion-dollar pyramid scheme that defrauded almost 2 million investors. A former executive of Telexfree was sentenced to six years in federal prison for his involvement in the scheme.[14] Lelling also helped prosecute Carlos Rafael, a fishing magnate known as "the Codfather" who pleaded guilty to mislabeling hundreds of thousands of pounds of fish, allowing him to illegally increase his profit margin via environmental fraud.[15] He successfully prosecuted several golfing buddies for trading on inside information about American Superconductor.[14]

On February 8, 2021, along with 55 other Trump-era attorneys, Lelling was asked to resign.[16] Lelling announced his resignation on February 10, 2021, effective February 28.[17] Lelling joined Cleveland-based law firm Jones Day following his resignation.[18][19] In late 2021, it was reported that he was considering a run for Massachusetts' Republican gubernatorial nomination,[20] but he ultimately decided not to.[21]

Notable prosecutions

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2019 college admissions bribery scandal (Operation Varsity Blues)

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Main article: Varsity Blues scandal

In 2019, Lelling announced charges in the Varsity Blues scandal and led the prosecution.[22][23] The ringleader, William Singer, pled guilty to multiple charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice and multiple parents were indicted.[24][25] Ultimately, 53 people were charged in the scandal, and Singer was sentenced in January 2023 to three and a half years in prison plus forfeiture of over $10 million.[26] The case was the most significant federal prosecution related to higher education ever attempted by the U.S. Justice Department[27] It led to significant changes in college admissions processes[28] and was the basis for a best-selling book by two Wall Street Journal reporters and a popular Netflix documentary about the case.[29][30]

Indictment of Massachusetts trial court judge

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Main article: United States v. Joseph

In April 2019, Lelling indicted Massachusetts trial court judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and now-retired Court Officer Wesley MacGregor on obstruction of justice charges arising from an April 2, 2018, incident where the judge and the court officer allowed an undocumented immigrant to leave the Newton District Court through a rear entrance, alleging that this was done to help the man evade arrest from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lelling said in part at the news conference announcing the indictments, "We did not bring this case in response to the public debate over immigration enforcement. There are reasonable arguments on both sides of that debate, but this isn't a policy seminar, it's a law enforcement action."[31][32]

The case was controversial. Former Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice Geraldine S. Hines said of Lelling's decision to prosecute that "Maybe he's trying to get on Trump's radar for whatever reason, and this is certainly the kind of thing that's going to get attention in Washington...it's a way to get yourself noticed."[10] In contrast, former senior U.S. Justice Department official Ralph Boyd, Jr., praised the prosecution as "principled" and that "it's rare to find public servants willing to enforce the law regardless of status, privilege, or political considerations."[33]

In September 2022, the Shelly Joseph case was dismissed by Zachary Cunha,[34] a United States Attorney appointed by President Biden.[35] Following the prosecution, Joseph's attorney claimed: "This was a patently political indictment, blindly grounded in prosecutorial ambition. We are hopeful that it will result in a long deserved dismissal - which we take as full and complete exoneration." As part of the agreement to drop the charges, Judge Joseph admitted to certain conduct, including, during the hearing before the undocumented immigrant was released, saying, "Is ICE gonna get him?," before turning off the courtroom recording for 52 seconds.  Joseph admitted that, after the recording was turned back on, the undocumented immigrant was released out the back door of the courthouse.[36] Responding to the dropping of the charges, Lelling said that prosecutors will differ in a given case, especially unusual ones, and that he respected the "thoughtful decision-making here".  Lelling also said, "What the agreed factual statement carefully avoids is requiring Judge Joseph to confirm or deny that she intentionally conspired to help the defendant evade federal authorities.  A federal grand jury concluded that she did, and that would be a serious, politically motivated abuse of her position."[37][38]

INSYS prosecution

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 As U.S. Attorney, Lelling oversaw the successful prosecution of several high-level employees of INSYS Therapeutics Inc. for contributing to the national opioid overdose crisis, a first-of-its-kind federal RICO prosecution of corporate executives during the opioid epidemic.[39]  Convicted defendants included the Chief Executive Officer of Insys, John Kapoor, as well as several managers and sales staff, who had aggressively marketed a powerful fentanyl-based drug for off-label use.  Kapoor was sentenced to 66 months in prison.[40]  The prosecution was hailed as "a landmark trial." "Experts saw the trial as sending a message to drug companies that they will be held criminally accountable for their alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis."[41]

The China Initiative

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Main article: China Initiative

In November 2018 Lelling was asked to work with a handful of other U.S. Attorneys and senior officials at the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI to create the China Initiative.[42] Begun by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under then–US President Donald Trump's first Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2018, with the goal of preventing industrial espionage and other theft of U.S. technology for the benefit of the Chinese government.[43] Trump and his administration believed that China was using corporate employees, researchers and students to steal American technological innovations.[44] In response, the China Initiative was conceived as a program to prosecute certain corporate employees, science researchers and academics suspected of misappropriating technology for, or hiding ties with, China. Though the Department of Justice did not strictly define what a China Initiative case is, many of the cases involved researchers who intentionally omitted Chinese funding on grant applications.[45]

The Department of Justice announced the end of the program on February 23, 2022, amid criticism of racial profiling of Chinese American citizens as well as residents of Chinese origin and ancestry from other nations.[46] Lelling rejected criticism that the DOJ's was targeting people based on their ethnicity, noting that, because China was nearly 100% Han Chinese, there would unfortunately be a disproportional number of defendants of Chinese ethnicity[47]

Lelling oversaw several high-profile cases brought under the initiative.  In January 2020, Lelling announced the indictment of Prof. Charles M. Lieber, a Caucasion male and head of Harvard University's Chemistry Department, for hiding financial ties to China from the U.S. government.  In December 2021, Lieber was convicted at trial on all counts.[48][49]

In another China Initiative case, Lelling announced in January 2021 the indictment of MIT professor Gang Chen,[50][51] charging him of hiding ties with China in a grant application. Lelling alleged that Chen failed to disclose various connections to Chinese government programs on DOE grant applications, including appointments to promote PRC technological and scientific development and providing scientific expertise in exchange for compensation. The charges alleged that Chen received significant funding from China for programs at MIT.[52] On January 22, 2021, MIT's president released a statement arguing out that these funds went to not Chen, but to MIT itself to support a departmental research collaboration with SUSTech which Chen directed on MIT's behalf.[53][54]

On January 14, 2022, about a year after Lelling's departure from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors had recommended dropping the criminal charges against Professor Chen.[55] The same day, The Washington Post reported the DOE had now decided that Chen's omissions from grant applications were not material, meaning that the information would not have affected DOE's determination of whether to make the grant.[56] The new U.S. Attorney in Boston implied that this problem with proving the materiality of the omitted information led to dismissal of the charges, saying "We recently obtained additional information pertaining to the materiality of Professor Chen's alleged omissions in the context of the grant review process at issue in this case. After a careful assessment of this new information in the context of all the evidence, our office has concluded that we can no longer meet our burden of proof at trial."[57] On January 20, 2022, federal prosecutors filed a motion to drop the charges "in the interests of justice", and the US District Court dismissed the case.[58]

In a New York Times interview published after his exoneration, Chen described the experience as "traumatic and deeply disillusioning". After the charges were filed he was banned from the MIT campus and from contacting MIT employees. The postdocs he worked with were moved to other labs. He no longer had a research group or funding, and until the charges were dropped he worked alone on other topics.[59]

Personal life

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Lelling is married to Massachusetts juvenile court judge Dana Gershengorn and they have two children.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Trump nominates Andrew Lelling as Mass. US attorney - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09.
  2. ^ a b c Murphy, Shelley (2019-10-14). "Andrew Lelling fills his office with meaning". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  3. ^ "Andrew E. Lelling Profile | Boston, MA Lawyer". Martindale.com. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  4. ^ Medina, Jennifer; Benner, Katie; Taylor, Kate (Mar 12, 2019). "Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in U.S. College Entry Fraud". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  5. ^ "For Months, A Boston Federal Courtroom Has Been Spotlighting MS-13's Brutal Violence". www.wbur.org. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  6. ^ "MS-13 gang leader in Massachusetts gets 19-year prison sentence". Reuters. 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  7. ^ Singer, Natasha (15 June 2020). "Ex-eBay Workers Sent Critics Live Roaches and a Mask of a Bloody Pig Face, U.S. Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  8. ^ Andersen, Travis. "Two MS-13 members admit to roles in murder of 17-year-old boy in Lynn, prosecutors say". www.bostonglobe.com. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  9. ^ Emanuel, Gabrielle; Thomas, Katie (2 May 2019). "Top Executives of Insys, an Opioid Company, Are Found Guilty of Racketeering". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  10. ^ a b Cramer, Maria; Stout, Matt (April 26, 2019). "Top federal prosecutor in Mass. is now on the hot seat". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  11. ^ a b "Meet the U.S. Attorney". 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  12. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Sixth Wave of United States Attorney Nominations". whitehouse.gov. September 8, 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017 – via National Archives.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ Metzger, Andy (September 8, 2017). "President Donald Trump nominates Andrew Lelling for top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts". MassLive. State House News Service. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  14. ^ a b Godoy, Jody (September 18, 2017). "Boston US Atty Nominee 'Wicked Smart,' Colleagues Say". Law360. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  15. ^ McDonald, Danny (September 8, 2017). "Trump nominates Andrew Lelling as Mass. US attorney". Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  16. ^ Balsamo, Michael (February 8, 2021). "Justice Dept. seeks resignations of Trump-era US attorneys". Associated Press. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  17. ^ "United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling Announces Departure". 10 February 2021.
  18. ^ Szaniszlo, Mary (February 26, 2021). "U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling leaves office, joins law firm". Boston Herald. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  19. ^ "Andrew Lelling joins Jones Day in Boston". www.jonesday.com. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  20. ^ "Andrew Lelling also eyeing run for Massachusetts governor, sources say". Boston Herald. 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  21. ^ Kashinsky, Lisa (2 February 2022). "Campbell launches AG bid". www.politico.com. Politico. Retrieved 7 April 2022. Former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling won't be running for governor or attorney general this year, despite fielding calls from Republicans encouraging him to seek either seat
  22. ^ Frank, Robert; Newburger, Emma (2019-03-12). "A slew of CEOs charged in alleged college entrance cheating scam". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  23. ^ "Wealthy parents, actresses, coaches, among those charged in massive college cheating admission scandal, federal prosecutors say", by Eric Levenson and Mark Morales, CNN, March 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  24. ^ "Massive college admissions cheating scandal snares Hollywood stars Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman". ABC News. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  25. ^ Raymond, Nate (13 September 2021). "First trial in U.S. college admission scandal to begin". Reuters. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  26. ^ Levenson, Eric; del Valle, Lauren (January 4, 2023). "College admissions scam mastermind sentenced to 3.5 years in federal prison". CNN. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  27. ^ Medina, Jennifer; Benner, Katie; Taylor, Kate (2019-03-12). "Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in U.S. College Entry Fraud". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  28. ^ Jaschik, Scott (2019-08-19). "Has Admissions Changed Since the Scandal?". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  29. ^ "Watch Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  30. ^ "Review | To get into college, they lied about test scores, talent and even race". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  31. ^ Dooling, Shannon (2019-04-25). "Mass. Judge, Retired Court Officer Face Federal Charges For Allegedly Helping Defendant Evade ICE". WBUR-FM. Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  32. ^ Stack, Liam (2019-04-25). "Judge Is Charged With Helping Immigrant Escape ICE at Courthouse". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  33. ^ Boyd, Ralph (May 16, 2019). "US Attorney Lelling's principled prosecution of Judge Shelley Joseph". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  34. ^ Levenson, Michael (2022-09-22). "U.S. to Drop Charges Against Judge Accused of Helping Immigrant Escape ICE". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  35. ^ Balsamo, Michael. "Biden announces picks to lead U.S. attorney's offices in RI and elsewhere". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  36. ^ "MA Judge who admitted to facts for helping man escape ICE can return to bench with case now dropped". Boston 25 News. 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  37. ^ Becker, Deborah; Creamer, Lisa. "DOJ drops charges against Newton judge accused of helping immigrant evade ICE". Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  38. ^ Levenson, Michael (2022-09-22). "U.S. to Drop Charges Against Judge Accused of Helping Immigrant Escape ICE". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  39. ^ Emanuel, Gabrielle; Thomas, Katie (2019-05-02). "Top Executives of Insys, an Opioid Company, Are Found Guilty of Racketeering". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  40. ^ "Insys Executives Are Sentenced to Prison Time, Putting Opioid Makers On Notice". Frontline. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  41. ^ Emanuel, Gabrielle; Romo, Vanessa (Jan 23, 2020). "Pharmaceutical Executive John Kapoor Sentenced To 66 Months In Prison In Opioid Trial". NPR. Retrieved Mar 13, 2023.
  42. ^ "Attorney General Jeff Session's China Initiative Fact Sheet". November 1, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  43. ^ "Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces New Initiative to Combat Chinese Economic Espionage". www.justice.gov. 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  44. ^ Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (March 14, 2022). "Have Chinese Spies Infiltrated American Campuses?" The New Yorker. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  45. ^ Gerstein, Josh (February 23, 2022). "DOJ shuts down China-focused anti-espionage program". Politico. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  46. ^ Choi, Joseph (June 14, 2021). "Federal agents admit to falsely accusing Chinese professor of being a spy". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  47. ^ Mervis, Jeffrey (February 3, 2020). "U.S. prosecutor leading China probe explains effort that led to charges against Harvard chemist". Science. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  48. ^ Barry, Ellen (2020-01-28). "U.S. Accuses Harvard Scientist of Concealing Chinese Funding". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  49. ^ Barry, Ellen (2021-12-21). "In a Boston Court, a Superstar of Science Falls to Earth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  50. ^ "Prosecutors drop China Initiative case against MIT's Gang Chen". www.science.org. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  51. ^ Gertz, Bill. "Gang Chen, MIT professor, charged with illegal work for China". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  52. ^ "MIT Professor Arrested and Charged with Grant Fraud". U.S. Attorney's Office, Massachusetts. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts. 14 January 2021. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  53. ^ Fernandes, Deirdre (22 January 2021). "MIT president and faculty members defend professor arrested for China ties". Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021. These funds are about advancing the work of a group of colleagues, and the research and educational mission of MIT.
  54. ^ O'Leary, Mary Beth (19 June 2018). "MIT and SUSTech announce Centers for Mechanical Engineering Research and Education at MIT and SUSTech". MIT News. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  55. ^ Viswanatha, Aruna (14 January 2022). "Prosecutors Recommend Dropping Case Over China Ties Against MIT Scientist". Wall Street Journal. New York, New York. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022. Federal prosecutors have recommended that the Justice Department drop criminal charges against a Massachusetts Institute of Technology mechanical engineering professor accused of hiding his China ties, according to people familiar with the matter...
  56. ^ Nakashima, Ellen; Nakamura, David (14 January 2022). "In high-profile case against MIT's Gang Chen, prosecutors seeking to drop charges". The Washington Post. Washington DC. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022. Prosecutors alleged Chen failed to disclose ties to the Chinese government and a technology university in Shenzhen. But when they interviewed MIT grant administrators in early 2021, after the charges were filed, those officials said the application form Chen filled out in 2017 did not require disclosures such as ties to foreign institutions, according to one person.
  57. ^ "District of Massachusetts | Statement from U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins on the Dismissal of the Gang Chen Case | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  58. ^ Murphy, Shelley (20 January 2022). "Judge grants prosecutors' request to dismiss charges against MIT professor accused of concealing ties with China". The Boston Globe. Boston, MA. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022. Having assessed the evidence as a whole in light of the information, the government can no longer meet its burden of proof at trial. Dismissal of the indictment is therefore in the interests of justice.
  59. ^ Barry, Ellen (24 January 2022). "'In the End, You're Treated Like a Spy,' Says M.I.T. Scientist". The New York Times.
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