William J. Hochul Jr.

Bill Hochul was born in Buffalo, New York in 1959.[1] He graduated from Cheektowaga Central High School in Cheektowaga, New York, just outside Buffalo.[2] Bill Hochul received a bachelor's degree from University of Notre Dame in 1981 and earned his Juris Doctor from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1984.[3] Among his law school accomplishments, Hochul won the Law School's Moot Court competition. He also earned the Top Oralist award at the National Constitutional Moot Court Competition held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1982.

Bill Hochul served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of New York from 1991 to 2010.[1] During that time, he served as Chief of the Anti-Terrorism Unit from 2002 to 2007 and as Chief of the National Security Division from 2007 to 2010.[3]

Bill Hochul was one of the 18 members of the Buffalo Joint Terrorism Task Force awarded the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, the highest award of the Department of Justice, for "their exemplary performance in the dismantlement of the Lackawanna, New York terrorist cell" [4] which resulted in the 2003 convictions of six Yemeni-American for providing material support to Al-Qaeda.[5][6] Over his career, Bill became one of the most highly decorated federal prosecutors in the history of the Department of Justice, receiving over four dozen honors and awards for his work. Defense attorney Rodney Personius described Hochul as “a phenomenal courtroom prosecutor, the best I’ve ever seen.”[7] Hochul is also generally recognized as the first prosecutor to use the nation's racketeering laws to dismantle violent street gangs. [8][9]

In 2006, Bill Hochul unsuccessfully applied to a counterterrorism position at the Department of Justice's Executive Office for United States Attorneys.[5] A 2008 report by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General revealed that Bill Hochul's appointment was one of several appointments that were inappropriately blocked by Department of Justice official Monica Goodling due to political considerations.[10] The report found that Hochul was passed over in favor of "a much less experienced, but politically acceptable, attorney".[10] Bill Hochul, who has variously registered to vote as both an independent and a Democrat, is married to Kathleen C. Hochul, a longtime politically active Democrat.[10] The report concluded that Goodling found Hochul objectionable "because of his and his wife's political affiliation" and instead appointed a registered Republican who lacked counterterrorism experience and did not have the requisite five years of experience as a federal prosecutor.[10]

On December 23, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Bill Hochul to serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York.[3] He was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on March 10, 2010.[11] According to the Am-Pol Eagle, Bill Hochul is the first Polish American to serve as a federal prosecutor for Western New York State.[12]

In 2016, Hochul became Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary to Delaware North Companies, Incorporated, a Hospitality and Gambling company. Hochul speaks frequently on topics related to corporate culture, compliance and governance issues. While at the Department of Justice, Hochul lectured frequently, domestically and abroad, on corruption and other criminal law and justice matters.

Hochul is married to former Congresswoman and current New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul,[13] who previously served as County Clerk of Erie County, New York from 2007 to 2011.[14] Hochul has two children—William and Caitlin.

• Office of the Inspector General (July 2008). An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General.