Newly Designated Public Integrity Officers Give New Yorkers A Place To Report Government Corruption Without Fear Of Political Influence
Schneiderman Fulfills Commitment To Tackle Government Corruption At All Levels To Restore Confidence In Public Sector
NEW YORK – As part of his effort to crack down on corruption and restore the public’s trust in government, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the appointment of public integrity officers to serve in all of the Attorney General’s regional offices across the state. They will be charged with giving taxpayers a place to go to report complaints of government corruption without fear of local politics influencing the outcome.
“When it comes to combating local public corruption, the people of New York State deserve a dedicated ‘cop on the beat.’ Having a public integrity officer in each one of our regional offices will go a long way to root out corruption and address the concerns of taxpayers in every corner of New York State,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Our talented team of public integrity officers will give everyday citizens a place to take complaints where they know they can and will be examined without fear or favor.”
Attorney General Schneiderman’s appointments reflect a renewed commitment of time and energy in the regional offices to public integrity matters, and will formally link them to the Attorney General’s central Public Integrity Bureau. Outside of Albany and New York City, the Attorney General has regional offices in Buffalo, Binghamton, Long Island, Plattsburgh, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Watertown and Westchester.
Russ Haven, Legislative Counsel at New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc. (NYPIRG), said: “Attorney General Schneiderman’s initiative to place a public integrity officer in each regional office to root out local wrongdoing is a major step forward in the fight to hold accountable those who defraud the taxpayers of this state. Whistleblowers and other New Yorkers who see local fraud and waste will now have a local point person to share in confidence their potentially vital information. We applaud the Attorney General for making public integrity a top priority, and working to reform our state government from top to bottom.”
Attorney General Schneiderman’s newly designated public integrity officers are:
Albany – Colleen Glavin currently handles public integrity matters as an Assistant Attorney General in the Albany office. Previously, Glavin served an Assistant District Attorney in the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office and St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted felonies, misdemeanors, and violations of the law in both local and county court. Glavin is a graduate of Albany Law School of Union University.
Binghamton – Michael Danaher has served for over 13 years at the Office of the Attorney General, bringing affirmative litigation, mostly involving consumer fraud. Having served as a lawyer in private practice for 14 years, Danaher has a great deal of experience in criminal law. Danaher is a graduate of Albany Law School of Union University.
Brooklyn – Lois Booker-Williams has served for over 9 years at the Office of the Attorney General. Prior to that, she served as a law clerk for an acting Supreme Court Justice of the Criminal Term, and spent 9 years as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Booker-Williams is a graduate of CUNY Law School.
Buffalo – Rose McMorrow has served at the Office of the Attorney General since October 2007, handling cases in the Sex Offender Management Bureau. Previously, McMorrow was an Assistant District Attorney in Erie County for five years, for two of which she participated in the prosecution of public corruption and white collar crime cases. McMorrow is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School.
Harlem – Roberto Lebron currently serves at the Office of the Attorney General, where he investigates and prosecutes affirmative cases. Previously, Lebron worked as an enforcement litigation attorney with the New York City Department of Housing, Preservation and Development. A former president of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, Lebron is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law.
Nassau – Victoria Safran has served at the Office of the Attorney General since 2004 in the area of public advocacy, where she has prosecuted cases involving deceptive business practices and fraud in consumer, internet, securities, mortgage and charities transactions. Safran is a graduate of the Duke University School of Law.
Plattsburgh – Glen Michaels has served at the Office of the Attorney General since 2000, where he handles a wide variety of legal matters, including investigations and litigation of consumer protection, not-for-profit, and charitable giving matters. Previously, he worked in private practices in Illinois and California in the areas of taxation, estate planning, probate and trust law, charitable giving, and not-for-profit corporations. Michaels is a graduate of Yale Law School.
Poughkeepsie – Vincent Bradley has served as an Assistant Attorney General-In-Charge of the Attorney General’s Poughkeepsie regional office since 2008, where he conducts investigations involving consumer protection, illegal business practices and fraud. Previously, he served for ten years as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Bradley is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School.
Rochester – Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Hillel Deutsch practiced in the law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, LLP in New York City. During his four years at the firm, he worked on billion dollar securities fraud cases, telecommunications issues and also has a broad background in corporate fraud cases. Deutsch is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Suffolk – Kimberly Kinirons has served at the Office of the Attorney General for four years, where she has handled a diverse civil caseload. Previously, she worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office for ten years. Kinirons is a graduate of Cornell Law School.
Syracuse – Maureen MacPherson has served at the Office of the Attorney General since 2004. For the last several years, she has handled complex litigation involving medical malpractice. Previously, she served as a prosecutor at the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office. MacPherson is a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law.
Utica – Joel Marmelstein has served as the head of Attorney General’s Utica Regional Office for over 12 years. Previously, he worked in private practice in Utica for over 20 years and has a broad and diverse legal background. Marmelstein is a graduate of Washington University Law School.
Watertown – Deanna R. Nelson has served as the Assistant Attorney General in Charge at the Attorney General’s Watertown Regional office since 2008. Previously, Nelson worked with the law firm of Woods, Oviatt, Gilman LLP in Rochester and the firms of Maloney, Schell & Eisenhauer, Nelson Law Office and Golberg Segalla LLP in Watertown. Nelson is a graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law.
Westchester – Wanda Perez-Maldonado has served at the Office of Attorney General since 2003, as a prosecutor in the Organized Crime Task Force and as a civil litigator. Previously, she was an Assistant District Attorney at the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. Perez-Maldonado is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law.
“From town halls to the state capital, it is essential to bring both a ‘top down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approach to reforming our state and giving taxpayers the government they deserve. We must clean up Albany, but we must also root out possible corruption hidden in the nooks and crannies of local governments and special districts,” Attorney General Schneiderman added.