MACON, GA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Department of Justice), published as received.
MACON, Ga. – Peter D. Leary was officially sworn in today as the 17th presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.
U.S. Attorney Leary was administered the oath of office by Chief U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell at the U.S. Courthouse in Macon in the presence of his immediate family late this afternoon. President Joe Biden nominated Leary on Nov. 14, and the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination on Dec. 6.
“The opportunity to serve the citizens of the Middle District of Georgia as their U.S. Attorney is a tremendous honor,” said U.S. Attorney Leary. “Our office’s strong legacy is due to its dedicated team members and the positive relationships fostered with each other and our law enforcement partners, defense bar, court and community-at-large. Together, we will never cease in our mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our communities safe and protect the civil rights of all people.”
Prior to receiving the presidential nomination, Leary served as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia in acting and then interim capacities—appointed by order of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and then by Judge Treadwell—since Dec. 2020. Currently, Leary serves on two Attorney General Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC) subcommittees: Violent Crime and Cyber and Intellectual Property.
Leary has served the citizens of the Middle District of Georgia as a prosecutor since 2012 and as its First Assistant U.S. Attorney since 2018. Since joining the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), he has worked as the office’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (ATAC) coordinator, its Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) prosecutor and its National Security Cyber Specialist (NSCS). In 2021, he shared an Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Director’s Award for Superior Performance in Prevention and Reentry Activities for work on a campaign aimed at educating youth about gun possession: www.armedwithknowledge.org. In 2019, he received the Anti-Defamation League’s SHIELD award with the FBI and Department of Justice partners, and he shared the 2018 International Association of Chiefs of Police/Thomson Reuters Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigation with the FBI and the GBI.
Leary served as a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division from 2007 to 2012, where he worked extensively with the Intelligence Community. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Leary served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia from 2005 to 2007.
As U.S. Attorney, Leary is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Middle District of Georgia, which covers 70 of Georgia’s 159 counties and includes Albany, Athens, Columbus, Macon and Valdosta with a population of approximately 2,045,000 people. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, fraud, firearms, illegal gangs and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.
Raised in Watkinsville, Georgia, and a graduate of Athens Academy in Athens, Georgia, Leary received his B.A. and J.D. from University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson Scholar.
