Nominee for U.S. attorney is Memeger

Zane D. Memeger, a former prosecutor who is a partner at a major Philadelphia law firm, has been nominated by President Obama to become the U.S. attorney in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Memeger will return to an office where he spent 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney before joining Morgan, Lewis & Bockius L.L.P. in 2006 as a partner representing corporate and white-collar clients facing criminal investigation.

Memeger, 45, is a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and was recommended to the White House by Pennsylvania's two Democratic U.S. senators, Bob Casey and Arlen Specter. He grew up in New Castle County, Del.

"He's interested in justice and fairness. Given the opportunity, this does not surprise me," his father, Wesley Memeger Jr., said Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Morgan Lewis said the nominee was "honored" to be selected, but otherwise was declining to comment.

If Memeger takes over the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, all but assured now that he has passed an FBI background check, he will oversee an office with about 130 prosecutors and 100 support staff, who handle criminal and civil cases for the federal government.

He was chosen after lengthy negotiations by Specter and Casey.

In a statement Wednesday, Specter said Memeger had "excellent professional and academic credentials and a strong commitment to justice."

Casey cited what he called Memeger's "exemplary record of fighting crime" while a prosecutor.

Prosecutors inside the office, now led by acting U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy, declined to comment, citing Justice Department policy.

Patrick Meehan, who was U.S. attorney for most of the George W. Bush administration, said he was pleased with Obama's pick.

"He'll be an outstanding U.S. attorney," said Meehan, now a Republican candidate for Congress in Delaware County. "Zane is well-regarded in the office and has experience working on complex investigations, including high-level organized crime."

The selection of Memeger, who is a former mob prosecutor, could tip the balance in a struggle over the future of the organized-crime unit, known as the Strike Force, within the U.S. Attorney's Office. A controversy erupted after Meehan left in 2008, when acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid tried to disband the mob unit. Superiors in Washington overruled her.

"With his background, my guess is it'll be impossible to get rid of the Strike Force now," said a federal official in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia office has successfully brought a large number of high-profile cases in recent years, including cases against former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, the organizers of a number of high-profile Ponzi and financial-fraud schemes, and dozens of violent criminals caught with handguns in violation of federal law.

According to the federal docket, Memeger has represented only a handful of defendants in court since he left the U.S. Attorney's Office. One of them, a cocaine dealer, pleaded guilty in January and is expected to be sentenced soon.

Memeger is also part of a team of Morgan Lewis lawyers who have been working pro bono on the appeal of a Northampton County man, James McBride, who is serving a sentence of life without parole for the murder of his wife.

When Memeger was on the Organized Crime Strike Force, he was part of the team of lawyers that prosecuted mobster Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in 2001, who was given a 14-year prison sentence.

Barry Gross, who was on the team, has described Memeger as "totally apolitical. . . . He is his own man and will follow the law."

Memeger has been called professorial rather than confrontational and has been seen as sometimes uncomfortable with the give-and-take of a courtroom. Others say his strength will be in managing the office, deciding which prosecutions go forward, and determining which lawyers are assigned to specific cases.

Memeger was one of three prosecutors on the team that convicted Imam Shamsud-din Ali of racketeering in 2005, a case that sparked the City Hall corruption investigation during Mayor John F. Street's term.

In an earlier interview, the elder Memeger said his son had been a competitive gymnast in high school and college despite his height, over 6 feet.

"The kind of people who end up in the sport," said the elder Memeger, "tend to be very persistent."

At the University of Virginia, Memeger served as director of a literacy program for inmates at the Albemarle County jail and later did legal work for a program to assist inmates with post-conviction appeals.

He was awarded the university's Robert F. Kennedy Award for Public Service for that work.