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Former United States Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger

G. Zachary Terwilliger
Department of Justice

G. Zachary Terwilliger was the 62nd United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA). 

As the chief federal law enforcement officer in EDVA, Terwilliger supervises the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest. As U.S. Attorney, Terwilliger leads a staff of over 250 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel located in Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond.

Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney on May 25, 2018, Terwilliger served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice. In that role, Terwilliger was a principal advisor to the senior Department of Justice leadership in areas such as corporate compliance, federal, state and local law enforcement cooperation, violent crime reduction, and other critical matters.

Terwilliger began his career at EDVA as an intern in 1999, and returned in 2005 to serve as a summer law clerk. In 2008, after serving as a law clerk for the Honorable K. Michael Moore in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Terwilliger was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney through a partnership with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, where he was an integral member of the Alexandria Division’s Project Safe Neighborhood initiative that focused on removing the most violent criminals from the community.

Terwilliger was hired as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2010 and assigned to the Major Crimes Unit, where he prosecuted numerous violent crime, fraud, organized crime, and human trafficking cases, and managed law enforcement task forces focusing on human trafficking and firearms. In addition to his prosecutorial duties, Terwilliger served as a counselor to former U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride, providing advice on legal, ethical, and personnel issues, and served as a spokesperson for EDVA.

From September 2015 to September 2016, Terwilliger served as counsel to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, where he focused on issues relating to criminal law, elder justice, human trafficking, and the Bill of Rights.

Terwilliger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, and graduated with the highest honors from the William & Mary School of Law.

Terwilliger has lived in the Eastern District of Virginia for over 25 years.

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Updated February 12, 2021