The Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia greets the new Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer of the district, Raj Parekh, who is taking over in the Office following the resignation of former U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger. Announcements of the stepping down of former U.S. Attorney Terwilliger was made on January 5, 2021, and the turnover was made official on January 16, 2021.
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Education
Raj Parekh is the first Indian-American and person of color to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia throughout the Office’s 232-year history. He graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from The George Washington University in 2003, receiving his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and International Affairs. Three years later, U.S. Attorney Parekh earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, graduating with Cum Laude honors in 2006. In the same year, he received a Certificate in Business & Public Policy from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was Executive Editor in the Journal of International Law & Policy.
Legal Career
U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh is currently in his fifth year in the Office. He joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2016 as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for National Security and Terrorism Cases within the district. He served in the position for two years until he was promoted into being an Assistant United States Attorney in the National Security & International Crime Unit of the Office in 2018. After two more years, he was again promoted to First Assistant United States Attorney to the former U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger.
His federal service also includes being a Trial Attorney in the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice from 2015 to 2018. Prior to serving at the United States Department of Justice, Raj Parekh was a Counsel and Senior Attorney for Global Risk & Investigations of the International Business Machines Corporation from 2014 to 2015. In addition, U.S. Attorney Parekh was also once an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for two years, from 2012 to 2014.
In 2009, U.S. Attorney Parekh was an Assistant General Counsel of the Litigation & Counterterrorism section of the Central Intelligence Agency. He served in the position for three years, until 2012. He initially came from the private sector, working at the Simpson Tacher & Carlett, LLP as a Litigation Associate of the White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations Group of the law firm for three years, from 2006 to 2009. U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh launched his legal career by joining the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as a Milton Pollack Fellow. Furthermore, he was a Law Clerk in the United States Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
Honors and Awards
Raj Parekh is a career federal prosecutor with outstanding experience. He has tried numerous jury trials to verdict. He has also investigated and prosecuted cases that involved cybercrime, health care fraud, international crimes, narcotics, national security, white-collar offenses, violent crimes, among other field areas. U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh also serves as the Asian American/Pacific Islander Special Emphasis Coordinator of the United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia’s Diversity Committee. With his excellent work in public service, U.S. Attorney Parekh has been a recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Exceptional Performance Award given by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2012, the Manager’s Choice Award for Global Investigations from the IBM in 2014, the Awards from the United States Department of Justice in both 2014 and 2016, and the Assistant Attorney General Award for Excellence bestowed upon by the National Security Division of the United States Department of Justice in 2018.
In 2019, U.S. Attorney Parekh received three awards, including the Service Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Washington Field Office, the Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney Anti-Defamation League SHIELD Award. Most recently, U.S. Attorney Parekh has again been awarded the Service Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Washington Field Office, and the Exceptional Service Award from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The United States Attorney Raj Parekh has been permitted admission into several State Bars, including the New Jersey State Bar since 2006, and in both the New York State Bar and District of Columbia Bar Association since 2007.
Some Notable Prosecutions of U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh
Among the notable prosecutions that U.S. Attorney Parekh was a part of is the case against Mohamad Jamal Khweis – a prosecution that U.S. Attorney Parekh handled during his early years in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, which ultimately led to the 2017 conviction of the very first offender to have faced a jury trial in the nation, after having joined the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist organization. The United States Attorney Raj Parekh was also recognized for his contributions to combat extremism and terrorism in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Office Jurisdiction
As the incumbent Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Raj Parekh is responsible for overseeing a staff of approximately 300 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel across the four branch offices under the jurisdiction of the district. These office branches are located in Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond. In addition, as the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official of the Eastern District of Virginia, U.S. Attorney Parekh is in charge of serving over six million residents of the district. He shall also manage and supervise all the prosecutions that involved federal crimes within the district, as well as all of the litigation of civil matters in which the United States has an interest. Furthermore, the Office shall also be responsible for collecting the United States’ debts.
Contact Details
Full Name: Raj Parekh
District/State: Eastern District of Virginia
Public email ID: raj.parekh@usdoj.gov
Alexandria Branch Office
Justin W. Williams United States Attorney’s Building
2100 Jamieson Ave
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 299-3700
Main
Newport News Branch Office
Fountain Plaza Three
Suite 300
721 Lakefront Commons
Newport News, Virginia 23606
(757) 591-4000
Main
Norfolk Branch Office
101 W Main Street
Suite 8000
Norfolk, VA 23510-1671
(757) 441-6331
Main
Richmond Branch Office
919 E Main St
Suite 1900
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 819-5400
Main
Social Media Profiles of Raj Parekh
Username: Raj Parekh
URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rparekh2/
Username: N/A
URL: N/A
Twitter Field
Username: U.S. Attorney EDVA
Tag: @EDVAnews
URL: https://twitter.com/EDVAnews
Updated: January 27, 2021
Jessica D. Aber is the next State’s Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA). You can find her biography here.
Updated: February 15, 2021