Richard Sullivan | |
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| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | |
| Assumed office October 17, 2018 | |
| Appointed by | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Richard C. Wesley |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York | |
| In office August 1, 2007 – October 25, 2018 | |
| Appointed by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Michael Mukasey |
| Succeeded by | Jennifer H. Rearden |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Joseph Sullivan (1964-04-10)April 10, 1964 (age 61) |
| Education | College of William and Mary (BA) Yale University (JD) |
Richard Joseph Sullivan (born April 10, 1964) is an American lawyer who serves as aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was formerly aUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2007 to 2018. He has been a member of theFederalist Society, a conservative legal organization.[1]
Sullivan was born inManhasset,New York. He graduated fromChaminade High School in 1982 and earned aBachelor of Arts in government and English at theCollege of William & Mary in 1986. He received aJuris Doctor fromYale Law School in 1990.[2]
After law school, Sullivan worked as alaw clerk to JudgeDavid M. Ebel of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and as a litigation associate atWachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.[2]
From 1994 to 2005, Sullivan served as anAssistant United States Attorney for theSouthern District of New York, where he successfully prosecuted the Maisonet heroin organization, which sold approximately $100,000 worth of heroin per day in theHunts Point section of the Bronx and carried out numerous murders in aid of its racketeering activity.[3] Among those prosecuted in that case was Bronx defense attorney Pat Stiso, who acted as house counsel to the RICO enterprise.[4] Other notable cases included the investigation and indictment ofMario Villanueva Madrid, who as governor of the Mexican state ofQuintana Roo accepted millions of dollars from Mexican drug cartels in exchange for providing safe passage for ton quantities of cocaine en route to the United States.[5] Madrid was eventually extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy.[6]
In 2002, Sullivan became chief of the newly created International Narcotics Trafficking Unit (INT), which was responsible for investigating and prosecuting the world's largest and most powerful narcotics organizations.[7] Among the noteworthy defendants prosecuted by that unit were Colombia kingpinsAlberto Orlandez Gamboa,Diego Murillo Bejarano, and Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela; Afghan warlordBashir Noorzai; Dutch ecstasy kingpin Henk Rommy; and the leadership of theRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Sullivan was named Prosecutor of the Year by the Federal Law Enforcement Association in 1998 and was awarded the Henry L. Stimson Medal from the New York City Bar Association in 2003.[8] In 2005, Sullivan joinedMarsh, Inc., a global risk and insurances firm, as deputy general counsel for litigation.[9] He was named general counsel of Marsh in June 2006.
On February 15, 2007, Sullivan was nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush to the seat on theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by JudgeMichael Mukasey, who assumedsenior status on August 1, 2006. Sullivan was confirmed by theUnited States Senate by a 99–0 vote on June 28, 2007,[10] and received his commission on August 1, 2007.[11] Sullivan was among the "Judges to Watch" named in the September 2012 issue ofThe American Lawyer.[12] Sullivan sits on the executive board of the New York American Inn of Court and is anadjunct professor atFordham University School of Law, where he teaches courses onwhite collar crime andtrial advocacy,[13] andColumbia Law School, where he teaches a course on sentencing.[14] In 2015,Above the Law listed Sullivan as one of several District Court "feeder" judges who have sent multiple former clerks on to Supreme Court clerkships.[15] His service on the district court terminated on October 25, 2018, when he was elevated to the court of appeals.[11]
On April 26, 2018, PresidentDonald Trump announced his intent to nominate Sullivan to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[16][17] On May 7, 2018, his nomination was sent to theSenate. He was nominated to the seat vacated by JudgeRichard C. Wesley, who assumedsenior status on August 1, 2016. On August 1, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before theSenate Judiciary Committee.[18] On September 13, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–4 vote.[19] On October 11, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by a 79–16 vote.[20] He received his judicial commission on October 17, 2018.[11]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York 2007–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 2018–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
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| National | |
