Meet the U.S. Attorney

Danielle R. Sassoon
United States Attorney

Danielle R. Sassoon is the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  Ms. Sassoon is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the District, which was established in 1789 and encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in New York City, along with Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties. 

As United States Attorney, Ms. Sassoon supervises the investigation and prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest.  She leads a staff of approximately 450 lawyers, special agents, paralegals and other support professionals.  

Ms. Sassoon graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2008 and from Yale Law School in 2011. Following graduation from law school, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and to the Honorable Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court. 

Ms. Sassoon started as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York in 2016. As a member of the Violent and Organized Crime Unit, she tried murder and racketeering cases, and prosecuted Lawrence Ray for racketeering conspiracy, extortion, forced labor, and sex trafficking, related to his abuse and exploitation of his daughter’s college roommates and others.  As a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, she investigated and prosecuted Samuel Bankman-Fried and others for the multi-billion-dollar fraud on customers of FTX.com. Prior to assuming the role of United States Attorney, Ms. Sassoon served as Co-Chief of Criminal Appeals. In 2024, she was awarded the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Criminal Investigation. In 2023, she was awarded the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Top Prosecutor Award.