Carmen Ortiz

Carmen Milagros Ortiz (born January 5, 1956) is an attorney, college instructor, and former United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

After graduating from The Saint Agnes School in 1974, Ortiz earned her B.B.A from Adelphi University in 1978, working in her family's gift shop during her years there.

In the summer of 1980, Ortiz interned in the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice with Eric Holder, who later became U.S. Attorney General.

She also worked on judicial reform in Guatemala with Harvard professor, former Watergate prosecutor, and former deputy attorney general Philip Heymann.

Ortiz later earned her J.D. at George Washington University's National Law Center in 1981.

From 1981 to 1983, Ortiz was an attorney with the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division.

Ortiz served as Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in two stints: 1983 to 1988 and 1991 to 1994.

In 1988, Ortiz went into the private sector with the Braintree law firm Marinelli & Morisi, where she would work until 1989.

Ortiz also coordinated the Center for Criminal Justice at Harvard Law School from 1988 to 1991.

In 1990, after being appointed by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, she served on a commission that investigated allegations of sexual harassment against members of the New England Patriots.

In 1997, Ortiz became an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

In 2009, she was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama.

Ortiz was both the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.

She succeeded Michael Sullivan in that position, with Michael J. Loucks serving as the interim U.S. Attorney between Sullivan's resignation and Ortiz's confirmation.

Noteworthy prosecutions by her office include those of Whitey Bulger, Tarek Mehanna, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as well as the controversial prosecution of Aaron Swartz which prompted his suicide.

In May 2009, Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry recommended Ortiz to President Obama for the vacant United States Attorney position in the District of Massachusetts.

On September 18, Obama nominated Ortiz for the position.

On November 5, the United States Senate confirmed her appointment by unanimous consent.

Ortiz was both the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

Ortiz was rebuffed in several harshly worded rulings by judges on cases brought by her office.

These cases were accused of "stretching the evidence" and "gross exaggeration" by federal judge Judith Dein, an "overkill" and "unusual prosecution" by federal judge Douglas Woodlock and being "over the top" by federal judge Nancy Gertner.

In 2011, Ortiz's office was responsible for the prosecution of GlaxoSmithKline general counsel Lauren Stevens.

Ultimately, the court dismissed the case, ruling that "it would be a miscarriage of justice to permit this case to go to the jury."

On July 6, 2011, Bulger was arraigned in federal court.

He pleaded not guilty to 48 charges, including 19 counts of murder, extortion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, perjury, narcotics distribution and weapons violations.

Ortiz's office also led the prosecution of Bulger's girlfriend Catherine Greig.

On March 23, 2012, Ortiz's office secured grand jury indictments against former state Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien and two of his former deputies, Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke III, for their involvement in running a sham hiring system in which friends and family members of legislators and politically connected job seekers were hired over more qualified applicants.

Each faces one count of racketeering conspiracy and 10 counts of mail fraud for sending rejection letters to applicants they knew they were never going to consider.

If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison on each of the 11 counts.

Ortiz said the indictments are “one step in an ongoing investigation.”

In March 2012, Greig plead guilty to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity fraud.

On June 12, 2012, she was sentenced to eight years' confinement in a federal penitentiary.

In 2015, Ortiz was expected to pursue $1.1 million 'Insider Trading' scam involving two Indian Americans Iftikar Ahmed & Amit Kanodia which involved sharing of insider information leading to illegal gains in the NYSE.

Carmen Ortiz's office led the prosecution of mobster Whitey Bulger.

In December 2016, Ortiz announced that she would step down from her post in January.

Her announcement was not unexpected, due to the fact that incoming president Donald Trump would have the authority to name new U.S. Attorneys.

Born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents, Ortiz grew up in East Harlem.

Ortiz has said that, as a child, watching Perry Mason on television inspired her to become a lawyer.

In September 2017, Ortiz joined the Boston-based law firm of Anderson & Kreiger.

In December 2019, it was announced she will be made a partner at the firm.