AFTER SCHUMER’S URGING, LONGTIME EDNY PROSECUTOR ROBERT L. CAPERS NOMINATED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO BE THE NEXT U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK — ONCE CONFIRMED, CAPERS WOULD HOLD NOW-U.S. ATTORNEY LORETTA LYNCH’S FORMER POST; CAPERS NAMED BY LYNCH AS INTERIM UNTIL FULL CONFIRMATION

Capers Hails From A Law Enforcement Family, Both His Father & Brother Were NYPD Cops; Capers Has Lifetime Of Dedication to Public Service, Successfully Prosecuting Murders, Other Violent Crimes & Narcotics; Will Also Focus On Civil Rights, Public Integrity And Terror Cases

Earlier This Year, Schumer Recommended Capers to Be Next U.S. Attorney for EDNY, Saying, “Mr. Capers Is In the Mold of Loretta Lynch.”

Capers, Formerly Chief, Narcotics Section/International Narcotics Strike Force, Is Currently Senior Litigation Counsel at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in EDNY; Seat Was Previously Held by Attorney General Loretta Lynch

Following his recommendation, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that President Obama has nominated longtime Eastern District of New York prosecutor Robert L. Capers to be the next United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Capers, a Bronx native and twenty-year veteran prosecutor, is currently the Senior Litigation Counsel at the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York and formerly served as Chief, Narcotics Section/International Narcotic Strike Force. The Eastern District encompasses the counties of Kings, Nassau, Queens, Richmond and Suffolk. The seat was held by Loretta Lynch until her recent confirmation as U.S. Attorney General. Capers, Bronx-born, Rockland-raised and NYU grad, comes from a family dedicated to law enforcement: his father was a veteran NYPD detective and his brother an NYPD cop.

Schumer noted that U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch will name Capers as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District effective today.  

“I am pleased that President Obama has heeded my call by nominating Robert Capers to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Robert Capers is in the mold of Loretta Lynch—really smart, hardworking, nose to the grindstone. Robert Capers has been a prosecutor for 22 years and knows the value of locking up violent criminals and drug kingpins who tear at the fabric of our neighborhood. Robert Capers is also committed to the Eastern District’s proud tradition of prosecuting terrorism, public integrity and civil rights cases. He knows that all those—from the petty criminal to the public official to the corporate executive—must be held to account if they run afoul of the law and the norms of civil society. He has dedicated his life to this calling and he understands the delicate balance that must be upheld between protecting the community from the threat of crime and protecting the civil rights of the people in the community. He learned this from his mom and his dad, an NYPD cop, and his brother, also an NYPD cop, and from his own considerable and deep life experience,” said Senator Schumer.

Capers has worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York since 2003 in a variety of roles. Prior to his current position, Capers worked as Deputy Chief of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section; Chief of the Narcotics Section/International Narcotics Strike Force; Acting Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorney. In addition, Capers has worked for the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for New York City, and was an Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney’s Office.

Capers received his B.A. in 1992 from New York University and his J.D. in 1996 from Albany Law School.

Schumer also thanked former acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Kelly T. Currie, saying, “Kelly Currie is a superb prosecutor, able leader and a first-rate legal mind who has dedicated years of valuable service to the Department of Justice, and the Eastern District is a better place for it.” Kelly was named to the acting position on April 27, 2015. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he oversaw all federal criminal and civil investigations and cases in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. Mr. Currie also supervised a staff of approximately 170 attorneys and 129 others.

Schumer is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee which handles the confirmation of U.S. Attorneys. Schumer twice recommended Loretta Lynch to be U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and later lead the effort to see her Attorney General confirmation through.

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