New Leadership Announced in Gulfport Branch of United States Attorney’s Office for Southern District of Mississippi

Gulfport, Miss. – United States Attorney Mike Hurst announced today that Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie will serve as the new Branch Supervisor of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Gulfport, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Annette Williams will serve as the Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The changes come in the wake of the retirement of long-time AUSA and Branch Supervisor Jay Golden, who retired last month after nearly thirty years in the U.S. Attorney’s Gulfport office.

"Our office is incredibly blessed with talented attorneys who are not only leaders in their profession but also in their communities. I am thankful to John and Annette for accepting these new, challenging roles as leaders in our office. They will do an outstanding job leading our Gulfport office and drug prosecution efforts, respectively, and the State of Mississippi will be better for their service," said U.S. Attorney Hurst.

AUSA Meynardie has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for 24 years. He began working in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jackson and later transferred to the Criminal Division in Gulfport, where he has prosecuted a multitude of complex cases over the years. He has been the lead prosecutor for drug cases in the Gulfport office for many years and most recently served as the Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section. Meynardie also created a school education program entitled "Pills, Needles & Designer Drugs" which includes a frank discussion and presentation about the greatest drug threats in our community: opiates and designer drugs. The program has been presented to schools and health care professionals across the state. Meynardie will bring a vast amount of knowledge and experience to his new role as Branch Supervisor. He will be transitioning into other types of cases, including complex white collar crime and public corruption prosecutions.

AUSA Annette Williams will be leading the office’s drug fighting efforts in her new position as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section. Williams has been a prosecutor in the Criminal Division for over 12 years and has a wealth of experience in many areas. She has successfully prosecuted numerous types of cases including violent crime, gangs, public corruption, identity theft/document fraud, and racketeering cases. She prosecuted a drug conspiracy case involving violent drug dealers in Jefferson Davis County which resulted in life sentences for three defendants. She has also prosecuted gun runners for violation of export laws, including working with the State Department on Defense Trade Controls violations, and she managed a large international scam/fraud investigation involving 360 email accounts and massive amounts of bank and credit card data. Twenty-one defendants in four countries were indicted in that case. While working at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Williams has conducted multiple trainings for law enforcement on guns, violent crime, immigration, human trafficking, search and seizure, grand jury and immunity. She has also spoken to high school classes, community organizations and educational conferences on relevant federal criminal issues such as guns, identity theft and human trafficking.

The United States Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer of the United States within his or her particular jurisdiction. There are 93 United States Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. United States Attorneys are appointed by, and serve at the discretion of, the President of the United States, with advice and consent of the United States Senate. United States Attorneys have three statutory responsibilities: (1) the prosecution of criminal cases brought by the Federal government; (2) the prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party; and (3) the collection of debts owed the Federal government which are administratively uncollectible. The Southern District of Mississippi encompasses the lower 45 counties of the State of Mississippi and covers approximately 2 million Mississippians.