U.S. Attorney's Office Announces Significant Management Changes

LEXINGTON, KY - The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Kerry B. Harvey, announced a number of leadership changes today including a new top assistant.

Harvey announced that Carlton Shier IV will serve as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Robin Gwinn will lead the office’s civil division and Bob McBride will manage the Fort Mitchell, KY., branch office.

As First Assistant, Shier will serve as Harvey’s top advisor and support him in managing the operations of the Lexington headquarters and branch offices located in Fort Mitchell and London, KY., which, altogether, includes a staff of nearly 100 employees and contractors. He will work closely with leaders of the office’s administration, appellate, asset forfeiture, criminal and civil divisions, and will participate in all aspects of managing the operation.

Shier, a Lexington native, had served as chief of the office’s civil division since September of 2010. During his tenure, the division marked several accomplishments, including negotiating a settlement with an Erlanger nursing home in a landmark case. It marked the first time in Kentucky that the False Claims statute was used in a case in which a nursing facility was sued alleging a systemic failure of care for its residents.

Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Shier worked as the Deputy General Counsel for the Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Family Services. He also has worked at the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and with the Fayette County Attorney’s Office. Shier graduated from Henry Clay High School and Centre College. He received his Master’s Degree in Justice Administration in 1994 and his law degree from the University of Louisville in 1997.

Gwinn, of Lexington, will lead a civil division consisting of approximately 20 attorneys and legal assistants. The civil division represents the United States in a wide array of litigation filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky, including affirmative efforts to recover taxpayer dollars lost to fraud and the defense of suits seeking damages against federal agencies and officers.

In 2010, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder presented Gwinn with the “Exceptional Service Award” for her efforts in a case that resulted in the largest pharmaceutical settlement in the Department of Justice’s history at the time. The case involved pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which agreed in September of 2009 to pay the Government $2.3 billion for illegally marketing drugs to doctors in Kentucky’s Eastern District and several other states.

Gwinn has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2002, primarily working civil cases. She has prior experience in state and county government. Gwinn received her law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1985.

McBride will oversee the operations of the Fort Mitchell branch office, which has a total of 14 attorneys and legal assistants. McBride has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2002 and was the office’s criminal division chief from the fall of 2007 through 2009. Prior to coming to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he served in the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander. McBride received his law degree from the University of Dayton in 1992.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Kentucky prosecutes criminal cases and represents the United States in civil litigation filed in the federal courts of the Eastern District of Kentucky which encompasses 67 counties stretching from southeastern Kentucky to the Ohio border.