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Meet the U.S. Attorney

United States Attorney Peter Leary

Peter D. Leary

Peter D. Leary was sworn in on December 12, 2022, as the 17th presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. President Joe Biden nominated Mr. Leary on November 14, 2022, and the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination on December 6, 2022. Prior to receiving the presidential nomination, Mr. Leary served as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia in acting and then interim capacities—appointed by order of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and then by Chief District Judge Marc T. Treadwell—since December 2020.

Mr. Leary serves on two Attorney General Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC) subcommittees: Violent Crime and Cyber and Intellectual Property. Mr. Leary has served the citizens of the Middle District of Georgia as a prosecutor since 2012. Since joining the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), he has worked as the office’s Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (ATAC) coordinator, Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) prosecutor, National Security Cyber Specialist (NSCS), and as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney.

In 2021, along with other members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he received an Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) Director’s Award for Superior Performance in Prevention and Reentry Activities for work on a campaign aimed at educating youth about gun possession: www.armedwithknowledge.com. In 2019, he received the Anti-Defamation League’s SHIELD award with FBI and Department of Justice partners, and he shared the 2018 International Association of Chiefs of Police/Thomson Reuters Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigation with the FBI and GBI.

As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Leary is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Middle District of Georgia, which covers 70 of Georgia’s 159 counties, includes Albany, Athens, Columbus, Macon and Valdosta, and has a population of approximately 2,045,000 people. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, fraud, firearms, illegal gangs and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.

Raised in Watkinsville, Georgia, and a graduate of Athens Academy in Athens, Georgia, Mr. Leary received his B.A. and J.D. from University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson Scholar. After law school, Mr. Leary clerked for U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Following his clerkship, Mr. Leary joined the Federal Programs Branch of the DOJ through its Honors Program, where he worked extensively with the Intelligence Community.

Updated March 7, 2023