U.S. attorney for L.A. takes office

Thomas P. O’Brien, a career prosecutor, was sworn in as U.S. attorney in Los Angeles on Friday in a private ceremony, a day after the Senate confirmed his nomination by President Bush.

O’Brien, 48, will oversee about 250 attorneys responsible for all federal prosecutions in the most populous judicial district in the nation, encompassing Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

“You are going to see a revitalized, energetic office move forward and meet the needs of this district,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien was a welcome choice to many in the office. As head of the office’s criminal division since 2005, he is viewed as a hands-on manager who helped maintain morale and drove prosecutors at a time of disheartened staff and funding shortages.

His appointment also shores up credibility for the office at a time when the Justice Department is reeling under accusations that nine U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons. O’Brien is not known to be politically active or well-connected in Washington. Some legal observers have suggested the U.S. attorney scandal pushed Bush to pick O’Brien over more partisan candidates.

“He should be a terrific U.S. attorney,” said Vincent Marella, a former federal prosecutor.

“After everything we’ve all heard and read over the last year about the Department of Justice and the politicization from the top to the very bowels of the department, it is critical we have a nonpartisan person,” Marella said.

O’Brien started his public career in the more rough-and-tumble world of a county prosecutor, spending five years in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s gang unit, before moving to the U.S. attorney’s office in 2000.

On Tuesday, O’Brien and Assistant U.S. Atty. Alexander A. Bustamante were awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service -- the department’s highest honor -- for the successful prosecution of four Highland Park gang members who conspired to assault and murder African Americans in their predominantly Latino neighborhood.

O’Brien replaces George S. Cardona, who served as interim and acting U.S. attorney following Debra Wong Yang’s resignation in January. Yang was sometimes criticized as an absentee landlord, devoting much of her time to Justice Department committees in Washington.

A hiring freeze sank morale and forced veteran prosecutors to take on cases normally reserved for young up-and-comers. Many respected attorneys left for lucrative jobs in the private sector.

O’Brien said the hiring freeze has been lifted. The office has taken on 19 new attorneys since June, and six more are expected next month.

“I plan to continue to hire aggressively to meet the needs of the office,” he said.

He said he wants to work more closely closer with local law enforcement on issues such as gang violence, bringing tough federal penalties to the scourge. “I think the local community will start to see much stronger support from the federal government.”

The main focuses of the U.S. attorney’s office are terrorism, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, public corruption, civil rights violations, child exploitation, environmental crimes, cyber crime and major fraud.

O’Brien was born in Massachusetts and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School and flew F-14s as a radar intercept operator on two overseas deployments.

O’Brien attended the University of San Diego School of Law and was a deputy district attorney in San Diego before moving to Los Angeles in 1994.

He tried 65 cases with the L.A. County district attorney’s office, including 35 jury trials for murder.

O’Brien moved to the U.S. attorney’s office in October 2000 and was promoted to chief of the civil rights division and then to chief of the criminal division two years ago.

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joe.mozingo@latimes.com