by Karla Ciaglo
US Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery announced her resignation Monday, effective 11:59 p.m., Jan. 17. Avery was appointed by President Joe Biden and sworn in May 9, 2022. She was the first Black woman to hold the post.
In her resignation statement, Avery said she was grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as US Attorney for Connecticut.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as United States Attorney, and I am profoundly appreciative of President Biden for trusting me to serve our nation and the people of Connecticut in this position,” Avery said. “I have been especially honored to lead an office of extremely talented public servants who are dedicated to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism and committed to the cause of justice.”
US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he was grateful for Avery’s service.
“I regret, but fully understand, Vanessa Avery’s departure, and I am grateful for her dedicated, highly successful service as U.S. Attorney,” Blumenthal said. “Her leadership has been insightful and incisive – inspiring to her excellent team working to protect public safety and the rule of law. I hope to make recommendations, along with my colleague Senator Murphy, to President-elect Trump, based on merit and guided by our bipartisan selection committee.”
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong also praised Avery’s work, calling her an “incredible” US Attorney.
“My only regret is that her tenure is too short, but that’s the way that these things work, and I know that she will have a lot to offer wherever she lands, whether that’s in the private or public sector. I have no idea where she’s going, but in the scheme of things, she’s just getting started,” Tong said.
During her time as US Attorney, Avery focused on community engagement and civil rights initiatives. She led programs such as HEAT (Heroin, Opioid, and Addiction Taskforce) and Fed-Up, aimed at reducing drug addiction, overdose deaths, and violent crime. Additionally, her United Against Hate initiative worked to raise awareness of hate crimes and build stronger community ties across the state, particularly within communities hesitant to report crimes over fear of retaliation.
“Together, we have employed collaborative, data- and intelligence-driven strategies to make our communities safer and ensure justice for all who live in our state,” Avery said. “We have done the hard work of engaging the community alongside our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, contributing to declining violent crime rates and opioid overdose deaths. I am confident that this office will continue to make Connecticut a safe place to live and have a positive impact in our communities.”
Avery’s leadership resulted in more than $233 million in criminal and civil actions for fiscal year 2023, placing her office third nationally for total recoveries among U.S. Attorney offices. The majority of the funds recovered were from Glencore, Ltd., to resolve the government’s investigation into a commodity price manipulation scheme, and from Nomura Securities International, for fraudulent trading of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities. The office also collected $47.8 million in asset forfeitures the same year in collaboration with partner agencies, and those funds were deposited into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund for victim restitution and law enforcement purposes.
Under Avery’s leadership, her office prosecuted a range of crimes including gun and gang violence, firearms trafficking, narcotics and counterfeit opioid pill trafficking, child exploitation, human trafficking, financial fraud, public corruption, cybercrime, and national security issues.
Notable cases included the conviction of Apolinar Francisco Paredes Espinoza, a 58-year-old Mexican national who pleaded guilty to smuggling undocumented individuals across the US-Mexico border. Paredes and his co-conspirators often required victims to provide property deeds as collateral and forced them to work under the threat of harm to their families in Mexico if they failed to repay a $30,000 debt.
Avery also prosecuted Okechukwu Valentine Osuji, a 39-year-old Nigerian national who was sentenced to eight years in prison for masterminding a business email compromise (BEC) scheme that defrauded several businesses, including a Connecticut-based financial firm, a Colorado-based lending company, and an Alaska-based nonprofit, inflicting losses in excess of $6 million. Osuji’s scheme also targeted elderly individuals through romance scams, causing significant personal financial harm.
Additionally, Avery oversaw an international case involving Stanislav Romanyuk, a Ukrainian citizen prosecuted for illegally exporting to Russia a dual-use, high-precision jig grinder that was manufactured in Connecticut. Exporting that type of grinder is illegal without a license because of its potential applications in both the civilian and military sectors, where it can be used in the manufacture of components for nuclear weapons.
Before her appointment as US Attorney, Avery served as Associate Attorney General and Chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. From 2014 to 2019, she was an Assistant US Attorney in the Civil Division, handling complex civil fraud, asset forfeiture, environmental violations, and civil rights cases. Avery also worked as a litigator at McCarter & English LLP, as a trial attorney with the US Department of Justice, and also practiced law at Cummings & Lockwood LLC. She is a graduate of Yale University and the Georgetown University Law Center.
Marc H. Silverman, who has served as First Assistant US Attorney since May 2024, will serve as Acting US Attorney upon Avery’s departure. Silverman, a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School, joined the US Attorney’s Office in 2010 and previously served as Deputy Chief of the Office’s Appellate Division and Chief of the Criminal Division.
Silverman will be the 55th US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, which was established in 1789.
“The US Attorney’s Office is in excellent hands,” Avery said. “Marc and the office’s superb supervisory team have the highest professional and ethical standards and, together with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, will ensure the administration of justice will continue seamlessly.”
The US Office of Public Affairs declined to comment further on the reasoning for Avery’s resignation and whether the timing relates to the incoming administration.