Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division Chief Seth DuCharme is headed to Washington, D.C., to join Attorney General William Barr's staff, according to a memo from U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue.

DuCharme was elevated to criminal chief in the Brooklyn federal prosecutor's office in March 2018, shortly after Donoghue took over as U.S. attorney. A former associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and veteran of the U.S. Marshals Service, DuCharme had previously served as chief of the office's national security and cybercrime section.

In his memo, Donoghue said DuCharme's selection spoke “volumes about his capabilities and accomplishments, and also reflects this Office's standing within the Department.”

DuCharme did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the DOJ also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taking DuCharme's place will be Jacquelyn Kasulis, who'll serve as acting criminal division chief. She joined the office in 2008, after spending four years at Kirkland & Ellis as a litigation associate. She most recently served as chief of the business and securities fraud section chief.

In that role she led a number of high-profile prosecutions for the office, including the trial of former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli. He was found guilty of three counts of securities and wire fraud related to a pair of hedge funds he ran, using his pharmaceutical company to pay defrauded investors.

Kasulis currently oversees the office's prosecution of two Goldman Sachs bankers and a Malaysian financier on bribery and money laundering charges related to the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, sovereign investment fund scandal.

On top of the shifts within the EDNY criminal division, Donoghue also announced his appointments of Mark Lesko as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Bridget Rohde as special counsel to the U.S. attorney.

The moves were a swap of positions for the pair. Lesko has served as counsel since returning to the office in October 2018. Prior to taking on the role he'd served in a variety of capacities at Hofstra University, including vice president for economic development and an adjunct law professor.

Rohde has been the office's first assistant since 2016, under then-U.S. attorney Robert Capers. Rohde served as acting U.S. attorney following Capers' resignation until Donoghue's installment by former attorney general Jeff Sessions in January 2018. She was an attorney at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo prior to rejoining the office.

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