Zachary T. Lee

Acting United States Attorney

Zachary T. Lee is the Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.  Mr. Lee assumed this role on December 21, 2024, pursuant to the Vacancy Reform Act following the resignation of United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh.  Mr. Lee is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the Western District of Virginia, which was established in 1819 and encompasses 52 counties and 17 independent cities.  As Acting United States Attorney, Mr. Lee supervises the investigation and prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest.   
 
Prior to assuming the role of Acting United States Attorney, Mr. Lee served as the First Assistant United States Attorney and had been an Assistant United States Attorney for 17 years in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.  During his career, Mr. Lee directed numerous multi-agency investigations and prosecutions, with a focus on public corruption, large-scale narcotics trafficking organizations, white-collar crime, and violent crimes involving firearms and homicides.  Mr. Lee has also served as the Western District of Virginia’s Criminal Chief and as the Anti-terrorism and National Security Coordinator.  

Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Lee served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Bristol, Virginia.  Mr. Lee graduated from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor of Arts in American History.  He earned his law degree from the University of Wyoming College of Law.  Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable James P. Jones, United States District Court Judge for the Western District of Virginia.