North Texas U.S. attorney to resign; Trump nominee handled Fort Worth kidnapping case
U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox, who last year personally handled much of the prosecution of a Fort Worth child kidnapping defendant, on Thursday said she would resign next month.
The departure of the most senior law enforcement officer in the Northern District of Texas was expected. It is customary for U.S. attorneys to leave their positions after the election of a new president, particularly when the president is affiliated with a political party different than their predecessor.
Prerak Shah, the first assistant U.S. attorney in the district, will lead the office until the Biden White House selects a permanent successor. Nealy Cox’s last day in the office will be Jan. 8. She appointed Shah in July.
“Serving as United States Attorney has been the privilege of a lifetime. Representing our nation is a tremendous responsibility – one I have tried to undertake with integrity and with accountability to the rule of law,” Nealy Cox wrote in a statement.
Nealy Cox, 50, will likely announce her professional plans later, a spokeswoman said.
Nominated by President Donald Trump in September 2017, Nealy Cox was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and was sworn into office in November 2017.
In a September 2019 trial, Nealy Cox prosecuted, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem, Michael Webb, who kidnapped an 8-year-old girl as she walked with her mother in Fort Worth. A jury found Webb, who also sexually assaulted the girl, guilty. Nealy Cox also argued the sentencing phase, and U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor sentenced Webb to life in prison.
“Erin Nealy Cox is a top-notch leader and lawyer – one of the many reasons I selected her to chair the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee,” Attorney General William Barr, who also said this week that he intended to resign, wrote in a statement. “A fierce advocate against human trafficking, public corruption, domestic violence, and violent crime, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the pursuit of justice in North Texas and nationwide. I thank her for her dedicated service to the Department and wish her every success moving forward.”
Nealy Cox said that she focused on reducing violent crime by “aggressively enforcing laws against firearm possession by prohibited persons.” Her prosecutors pursued defendants accused of unlicensed firearms dealing at gun shows, unlawful possession of 3D printed weapons and private sellers engaged in the business of dealing firearms, including to a man who sold an AR-15 to the Midland-Odessa shooter.
The district sought a range of drug indictments, including a case in which an Major League Baseball employee is accused of dealing the fentanyl that killed a Los Angeles Angels pitcher in Tarrant County.
Two doctors and five pharmacists were among 49 people who federal law enforcement authorities alleged last had participated in an $18 million pill mill scheme. The suspects were charged in U.S. District Court with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Forty of the defendants were arrested in September.
Dr. Caesar Capistrano, 61, and Dr. Tameka Noel, 36, wrote prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, alprazolam, carisoprodol, zolpidem, phentermine and promethazine with codeine knowing that the drugs would be diverted to the street for illicit use, according to a criminal complaint.
