07/10/2009
United States Attorney's Office Announces Appointment of Acting U. S. Attorney
Karin J. Immergut Completes her Presidential Appointment as Oregon's United States Attorney to Accept an Appointment to the Multnomah County Bench
Portland, Ore. – Career federal prosecutor Kent S. Robinson has been appointed to serve as the Acting United States Attorney for the District of Oregon until a new United States Attorney is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut’s resignation became effective July 9, 2009. Ms. Immergut leaves her term as U.S. Attorney to accept Governor Kulongoski’s appointment to the Multnomah County Circuit Court Bench.
Ms. Immergut served as the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, since her appointment in October, 2003. Throughout her tenure, she placed a high priority on partnerships with local and state agencies and worked diligently to provide Oregonians with access to her office and the work of her staff. The U.S. Attorney’s Office maintains a website that is updated on a regular basis with press releases and includes information on filing civil rights complaints and reporting incidents of mortgage fraud, and includes links for information regarding numerous other federal programs.
Among the accomplishments during U.S. Attorney Immergut’s term were the following:
- Prosecuting high profile fraud cases including public corruption, corporate fraud, and identity theft; establishing and participating in working groups on Health Care Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, and Financial Crimes.
- Launching a broad environmental crimes initiative which resulted in nearly 40 convictions for crimes ranging from vessel pollution at sea, to illegal disposal of hazardous waste, to illegal trade in endangered animals such as leopards and ocelots. Ms. Immergut helped establish the Oregon Governor’s Fund for the Environment, and the Oregon Endangered Species Trust Fund, both of which are funded by nearly $6 million in fines paid by environmental criminals.
- Initiating Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a comprehensive approach to gun crimes which includes education, prevention and training components, and more than doubled the number of federal firearms prosecutions.
- Forming the Metro Gang Task Force, a regional partnership of federal and state law enforcement agencies focused on investigating and prosecuting gang cases in the Portland metro area and creation of a Gang Unit within the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
- Establishing the the Oregon Human Trafficking Task force (OHTTF) to fight the trafficking of persons in the labor force and sex trade, through partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement, social service providers, and other government and non-government agencies.
- Addressing violent crimes on Indian Reservations and federal enclaves through establishment of a multi-disciplinary child abuse team, and increased focus on domestic violence, felons in possession of firearms, and gang prosecutions. Ms. Immergut has pursued an Indian Country strategy focused on increasing the coordination between federal and tribal law enforcement agencies.
- Prosecuting numerous major drug trafficking organizations, prioritizing methamphetamine cases, and creating the Career Offender Meth Production Initiative. During her time as U.S. Attorney, Ms. Immergut oversaw the dismantling of many large drug trafficking organizations involving methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and ecstasy.
In addition, throughout her tenure, U.S. Attorney Immergut served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a select group of prosecutors from around the country who provide policy advice on matters of national importance to the Attorney General of the United States. She advised four different Attorneys General over two administrations on such matters, ultimately serving the last two years as Chair of the Committee.
In assuming the role of Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Kent Robinson will continue building on the partnerships and relationships developed over the past years by U.S. Attorney Immergut. Robinson has been a federal prosecutor for 29 years and has held various supervisory positions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office over the past 15 years, serving as Criminal Chief, Chief of the Fraud Unit and most recently as First Assistant U.S. Attorney. He worked very closely with Ms. Immergut in developing District priorities and policies during her tenure. As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Robinson has successfully prosecuted numerous high profile criminal cases involving corporate and investment frauds, and environmental crime. During his tenure as First Assistant, Robinson was responsible for the management of 56 Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Portland, Eugene, and Medford. In addition, he is involved in numerous national Department of Justice work groups representing the interests of the District of Oregon. Mr. Robinson graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1979.
