Chief United States District Judge James K. Bredar today swore in Erek L. Barron as the 49th United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.
As the United States Attorney, Mr. Barron is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the District of Maryland. Mr. Barron will oversee the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought on behalf of the United States in the District of Maryland.
He will supervise an office of approximately 98 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 73 support personnel, who handle a high volume of cases including domestic and international terrorism, narcotics trafficking, organized crime, gang violence, public corruption, cybercrime, financial and healthcare fraud and civil rights violations.
Before taking office as the United States Attorney, Mr. Barron was a partner in a law firm in Maryland, with a focus on complex business and criminal litigation. Mr. Barron was also a member of the Maryland House of Delegates where he served as a member of the Maryland Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council and co-authored bipartisan legislation designed to enhance public safety, reduce corrections spending, and reinvest savings in evidence-based strategies to decrease crime and recidivism. Mr. Barron was also responsible for numerous legislative measures addressing criminal justice and behavioral health, including bills curbing opioid abuse and mandating treatment for opioid addiction and services for mentally ill individuals. Mr. Barron previously served as President-Elect of the Maryland State Bar Association and President of the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association.
Mr. Barron began his career as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County and then Baltimore City, working primarily as a violent crime prosecutor. He continued his public service as a Trial Attorney in the United States Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, where he handled regional and national gang and organized crime investigations and prosecutions. He then served as Counsel and Policy Advisor to then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, where he focused on law enforcement, crime policy and oversight of the United States Department of Justice.
Mr. Barron received his B.A. degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1996 and received his law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1999. In 2007, Mr. Barron earned an advanced law degree, focused on International and National Security Law, from Georgetown University Law Center.
