R. Alexander Acosta

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R. Alexander Acosta is an American lawyer and the current United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Acosta is a native of Miami, Florida, and attended the Gulliver Schools in Miami. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard College and his law degree from Harvard Law School. After graduation (1994-1995) he served as a law clerk to Samuel Alito, then a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Acosta then worked at the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. While in Washington, Acosta also taught classes on employment law, disability-based discrimination law, and civil rights law at the George Mason University School of Law. Acosta received the Excellence in Government Service Award in 2003 from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Hugh A. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Award from the DC Hispanic Bar Association. From 1998-2000 Acosta was a senior fellow at the socially conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center. [1]

Acosta served as a member of the National Labor Relations Board before becoming a Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. He was the first Hispanic to serve as an Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice.

Acosta was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida by President George W. Bush. Notable cases during his tenure include the prosecution of Jack Abramoff in connection with the SunCruz Casinos sale, the corruption prosecution of Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Tony Masilotti, Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell, and Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, the prosecution of Jose Padilla, and the conviction of Cali Cartel founders Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, and the white-collar crime prosecutions of executives connected to Hamilton Bank. Acosta has emphasized health-care fraud prosecutions.

[edit] External links

• Official biography from the United States Department of Justice
• Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta
• Criticism of Acosta and his role in the 2004 election