PITTSBURGH, PA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Western), published as received.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today that he will resign his position, effective 11:59 p.m. on January 19, 2025.
“The dedicated public servants who walk the halls of our office are second to none in their clear-eyed and even-handed commitment to pursuing justice on behalf of the more than three million people who call the Western District of Pennsylvania home,” said U.S. Attorney Olshan. “Serving alongside this team of career civil servants—prosecutors, civil litigators, and professional staff alike—has been the privilege of my career. I am grateful to President Biden, Senator John Fetterman, and former Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey for their trust and faith in my ability to lead the office. I will always treasure the 17 years I have devoted to representing the United States and working to defend and uphold the rule of law on behalf of the Department of Justice and the American people.”
During Olshan’s tenure as U.S. Attorney, the office continued its steadfast efforts to tackle violent crime and the most serious narcotics offenses, focusing on large-scale drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and the offenders who drive violence in western Pennsylvania. Working side by side with dedicated federal, state, and local law enforcement partners throughout the district, the office brought charges against: 24 members and associates of the “Drizzy” street gang for cocaine trafficking (Pittsburgh); eight members and associates of the “Zhoove” street gang for fentanyl and cocaine trafficking (Pittsburgh); 19 defendants involved in an interstate DTO trafficking fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and oxycodone (New Castle); 35 members and associates of a cross-country and transnational DTO trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine (Johnstown area); 13 defendants involved in a DTO trafficking methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine (Altoona area); and 26 regional drug dealers trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine (Erie).
Driving down the illicit sale and use of firearms likewise remained a priority, with the office securing convictions of three defendants, including a former police officer, who built and sold so-called “hit kits” containing untraceable privately made firearms (“ghost guns”), silencers, subsonic ammunition, and latex gloves. The office also brought charges against several extremely violent offenders, including an alleged methamphetamine dealer who orchestrated a targeted bombing resulting in the death of a woman who owed him a drug debt; an alleged fentanyl and heroin dealer who discharged a Glock equipped with a machinegun conversion device while fleeing from the police; a violent drug offender who allegedly shot at and attempted to kill a DEA agent; and a violent recidivist offender who allegedly committed multiple armed carjackings and robberies of Pittsburgh-area businesses. Notably, after experiencing a steady increase in homicides beginning in 2019, Pittsburgh—the district’s largest municipality—has seen more than a 40% decrease in homicides since 2022. Non-fatal shootings in the city similarly have dropped by more than 50% over the last three years after a four-year increase starting in 2018.
Under Olshan’s leadership, the office focused on offenders who preyed upon the most vulnerable members of our communities. On the white collar front, prosecutors brought charges against the alleged perpetrators of a multi-million-dollar international “lottery” scam targeting the elderly, as well as a far-reaching “bail bond” scam, securing convictions and significant sentences against multiple co-conspirators and successfully extraditing the alleged masterminds from Panama. The office also continued its impressive track record of obtaining substantial justice for child victims, including cases against a defendant who engaged in the sextortion of multiple children (30 years in prison); a defendant who used the dark web to distribute child sexual abuse material (25 years); a Florida resident who transported and sexually exploited a child from Erie (20 years); a Pennsylvania State Trooper who surreptitiously recorded children (23 years); and a defendant who created “morphed” sexually explicit images of child actors (14 years).
During Olshan’s tenure, the office strengthened its position at the forefront of complex cyber enforcement, working with domestic and international law enforcement partners to disrupt a Russia-based criminal enterprise through the seizure of web domains used to create more than 40,000 spoofed websites and store the personal information of more than a million victims. The office also coordinated a court-authorized operation that disrupted a worldwide botnet operated by Chinese state-sponsored hackers and shut down the illicit Rydox online marketplace where cyber criminals had access to over 300,000 cybercrime tools.
The office further demonstrated its ongoing commitment to combatting the threat of domestic and international terrorism, obtaining convictions against two defendants who violently obstructed law enforcement during a protest on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh and bringing terrorism charges against an Upper St. Clair resident who traveled to Lebanon and Syria with a “master plan . . . to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.”
Under Olshan’s leadership, the office cemented its reputation as a national leader in hate crime enforcement, including through the completion of a groundbreaking prosecution of two co-conspirators who committed violent assaults against over a dozen severely disabled residents at a Beaver County long-term care facility. The office also brought hate crime charges against two defendants, including a self-avowed Hamas adherent, who allegedly vandalized Jewish property in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Moreover, Olshan’s tenure saw the successful conclusion of the prosecution of the worst antisemitic mass shooting in United States history, resulting in the deaths of 11 Jewish worshippers from three congregations at the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 27, 2018.
“This investigation and prosecution will forever be a part of the fabric of our office,” U.S. Attorney Olshan said. “There is no greater honor as a prosecutor than securing justice for crime victims, and I will always be grateful for the faith and trust of the victim community in this case. It was a gift our team of prosecutors, investigators, and victim-support staff worked each day to earn, and it sustained us throughout the years-long litigation.”
Olshan also worked with office colleagues and law enforcement partners to enhance community outreach efforts around the district, including through participation in numerous United Against Hate educational programs, the Take Back the Night march at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, National Night Out police-community engagement events, Shon Owens Unity Week events in Beaver County, a “Bigs in Blue” event through Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Pride events, and the Allegheny County Anchored Reentry Annual Summit, which the office co-hosted. During Olshan’s tenure, the office coordinated multiple trainings for federal, state, and local law enforcement, including programs on strategic subject interviewing techniques, criminal use of artificial intelligence, criminal intelligence analytics, and First Amendment-protected activity.
The office’s Civil Division additionally saw significant results in cases across multiple areas of enforcement under Olshan’s leadership. For example, the office filed a complaint against a nationwide insurer and its subsidiaries for falsely placing auto insurance on hundreds of thousands of car buyers; secured a $6.5 million False Claims Act judgment against a telecommunications company related to violations of an FCC subsidy program; entered into a consent decree with the Allegheny County Jail to ensure that inmates received prescribed medications for opioid use disorder under the Americans with Disabilities Act; obtained an injunction prohibiting Philips Respironics from manufacturing and distributing faulty sleep and respiratory devices; and resolved Clean Air Act claims against two oil and natural gas producers for over $5 million.
The office’s affirmative civil enforcement, financial litigation, and asset forfeiture staff likewise continued to set the standard in financial recoveries, collecting more than $120 million in civil, criminal, and forfeiture actions in fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Upon Olshan’s resignation and pursuant to the Vacancies Reform Act, First Assistant United States Attorney Troy Rivetti, who has served the office for over 27 years, will become the Acting United States Attorney. Rivetti previously served as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the office prior to Olshan’s confirmation.
***
U.S. Attorney Olshan joined the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., through the Attorney General’s Honors Program in 2007 and spent a decade prosecuting public corruption offenses in federal courts around the country as a Trial Attorney and Deputy Chief in the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. Olshan became an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania in 2017, and, prior to assuming his position as U.S. Attorney, most recently served as the Chief of the Economic, Cyber, and National Security Crimes Section. During his time in the office, Olshan also served as the Civil Rights Coordinator, Healthcare Fraud Coordinator, Public Corruption Coordinator, Environmental Crime Coordinator, and District Election Officer.
Olshan was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on March 21, 2023, and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on June 8, 2023. As U.S. Attorney, he oversaw an office of approximately 130 prosecutors, civil litigators, and professional staff in three offices—Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown. During his tenure, Olshan served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), a select group of U.S. Attorneys who advise the Attorney General on matters of policy, procedure, and management. Olshan was also a member of the AGAC’s White Collar Fraud, Terrorism and National Security, Civil Rights, and Environmental Justice subcommittees.
