NYC Gazette

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced today the appointment of Alixandra E. Smith as Chief of the Criminal Division and John J. Durham as Chief of the Long Island Division and Chief of the Criminal Section of the Long Island Division. Additionally, in September 2023, Richard K. Hayes was named Chief of the Civil Division.

“I make these announcements with tremendous pride and excitement. Alix, John and Rich are brilliant legal minds with vast expertise in serving the Office, through both impressive casework and leadership positions. I have the utmost confidence they will continue to do what they do best – inspire and lead their teams in the pursuit of equal justice,” stated U.S. Attorney Peace.

Alixandra E. Smith joined the Office in 2012 and has served in various sections including General Crimes, Organized Crime and Gangs, and Business and Securities Fraud (BSF). She has held roles such as Deputy Chief of BSF, Chief of BSF, and a Criminal Division Deputy Chief. Ms. Smith is also Vice Chair of the Criminal Division Hiring Committee, Chair of the Office’s e-Litigation Committee, and co-teaches at New York University Law School. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Ms. Smith has investigated significant white-collar cases such as United States v. Shkreli and Greebel, where defendants were convicted for defrauding investors out of millions; United States v. Odebrecht and United States v. Braskem involving billion-dollar bribery schemes; United States v. AmerisourceBergen concerning contaminated oncology drugs; and United States v. Goldman Sachs Group related to a major bribery scheme involving $1.6 billion in bribes.

John J. Durham joined the Office in October 2005, serving in multiple leadership roles including Deputy Chief for the Long Island Criminal Section and Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV). He graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 1998 and University of Connecticut School of Law in 2001.

Mr. Durham has prosecuted a wide range of federal offenses including racketeering, murders, terrorism, civil rights violations, armed robberies, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, firearms offenses, public corruption cases against MS-13 leaders among others.

Richard K. Hayes joined the Civil Division in 1991 and has litigated nearly every type of case since then. He was Deputy Chief since 2012 with supervisory responsibility over several practices within the division including Affirmative Civil Enforcement and Health Care Fraud practices.

Mr. Hayes handled significant matters stemming from the Financial Crisis including a $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement in 2012 resolving claims against major mortgage servicers; he also led investigations into banks that resulted in over $20 billion recovered for financial crisis era cases.