Connecticut Supreme Court Associate Justice Andrew McDonald. (Courtesy photo)

Connecticut’s Criminal Justice Commission hired four deputy assistant state attorneys for the Danbury and Norwalk judicial districts and made job offers to three more who still need to undergo background checks.

The move is part of an effort to add about 25 new prosecutors before the end of this year as part of a goal bring the total to 235 across Connecticut’s 13 judicial districts, according to John Russotto, deputy chief state attorney for administration.

Connecticut Supreme Court Associate Justice Andrew McDonald, who also chairs the Criminal Justice Commission, said Wednesday that the entry-level prosecutors “are a diverse group of individuals who all bring separate talents.”

“The commission is confident they will be extraordinary, valuable members of the criminal justice system,” he said.

The new recruits were among more than 30 applicants and will earn starting salaries of about $65,000.

Four of the new prosecutors have cleared state police background checks, while three are still in the process.

Here is a look at the four.

Joy Gary:

Gary began working in the Stamford-Norwalk Judicial District in Norwalk on Aug. 2.

She did her undergraduate work at Howard University, in Washington, D.C., and received her law degree in 2015 from Touro Law School in Central Islip, New York. Since graduating from law school, Gary has been an attorney with the Legislative Commissioner’s Office. In that capacity, she worked with legislators in drafting laws. She also was a temporary assistant clerk in the judicial branch, and most recently a special deputy assistant state’s attorney in New Haven.

Mary-Caitlin Harding:

Harding will begin working in the Danbury Judicial District on Friday.

She is an undergraduate and law school graduate of the Quinnipiac University School of Law, where she received her law degree in 2016. Most recently, Harding was an associate attorney at the Victim Rights Center of Connecticut in Wallingford.

Matthew Knopf:

Knopf began working in the Danbury Judicial District Wednesday.

He was an undergraduate at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and received his law degree in 2015 in New York from Syracuse University College of Law. Soon after graduating, Knopf worked for his father Gerald Knopf’s law firm in Stamford. He was later employed part-time with the state’s attorney office doing early screening and intervention program work, which included diverting cases to more appropriate service providers.

Margaret Moscati: 

Moscati began working in the Stamford-Norwalk Judicial District in Norwalk on Aug. 2.

She is an undergraduate of the University of Michigan, and received her law degree in 2016 from University of Connecticut Law School. Soon after receiving her law degree, Moscati was a legal research clerk for the state’s judicial branch, where she researched and wrote opinions for Superior Court judges. She began as a special deputy assistant state’s attorney in Norwalk in the summer of 2018.