New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor said Monday he is stepping down.
U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced his resignation, effective Jan. 5, 2021, and in a statement called serving in the job “the greatest professional honor of my lifetime.”
Carpenito was appointed in January 2018 and oversaw an expansion of the U.S. attorney’s office in Newark, Trenton and Camden and a drop in shootings, shooting victims and murders in the state and in Newark, its largest city.
He re-established the office’s violent crimes unit and created separate units to focus on cybercrimes and opioids. He also created a strike force to focus on Medicare and health care fraud.
Carpenito served as assistant U.S. attorney under Chris Christie from 2005 to 2008, and later represented Christie in 2016 when, as governor, Christie was the object of a criminal misconduct complaint related to the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal filed by a Democratic gubernatorial candidate. The case was ultimately dismissed.
Carpenito also has served as senior counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement in New York.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig will serve as acting U.S. attorney in Newark until a replacement is named.
