Rosa Emilia Rodríguez

Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez was the acting United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico from 2007 to 2019. She is a career prosecutor, first in the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and subsequently in the U.S. Attorney's office in San Juan.

Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez
United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico
In office
October 13, 2007 – October 4, 2019
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Succeeded byW. Stephen Muldrow
Personal details
Alma materInteramerican University of Puerto Rico (J.D.)

Education and early career

She holds a master's degree in Criminal Justice (1974) and a Juris Doctor Degree (1977) from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law.[1]

She was appointed by then Governor Carlos Romero Barceló as a local district attorney in 1979. She subsequently crossed over to the federal level, serving in different prosecution and managerial roles within the United States Attorney's office.

U.S. Attorney

She was appointed United States Attorney for Puerto Rico by the Attorney General of the United States in June 2006 and nominated by President George W. Bush in January 2007, but the United States Senate never confirmed her due to numerous red flags. On October 13, 2007, the seven judges of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico unanimously authorized Chief Judge José A. Fusté to extend her appointment for four years, until October 12, 2011. On October 13, 2011, after no other U.S. president nominated her again, she was sworn into a second term by Chief Judge Aida Delgado after a unanimous decision by the six members of the District Court.[2] Her appointments were never confirmed by the United States Senate.[3] Her term as Attorney ended on October 4, 2019.

Prominent cases

In October 2010 she stood beside Attorney General Eric Holder at the Justice Department headquarters as he announced the arrest of 89 police officers and 44 other people in Puerto Rico for facilitating drug deals, in what has been described as the largest law enforcement corruption probe in FBI history.[4] Throughout her tenure as a member of the office's management team, she was a named management member in at least 10 EEOC complaints. The office lost two lawsuits in U.S. District Court and is still facing others for similar and related illegal behavior attributed to her.

See also

References
  1. "District of Puerto Rico". Offices of the United States Attorneys. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  2. "U.S. Attorney Rosa E. Rodriguez-Velez". Meet the U.S. Attorney. U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  3. "A tale of two Bush U.S. Attorneys". Main Justice. October 6, 2010. Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  4. Ramonas, Andrew (October 6, 2010). "Holder Reveals Puerto Rico Police Corruption Probe, Largest in FBI History". Main Justice. Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
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