David Toepfer named U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Ohio

David Toepfer of Warren was sworn in Thursday as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, making him the top-ranking federal law enforcement official for the district representing the United States in all federal and civil litigation. His office is responsible for a district covering the 40 northern-most counties in Ohio, home to nearly 6 million people. With nearly 200 attorneys and support personnel, the U.S. Attorney's Office operates from its main headquarters in Cleveland, with additional branches in Akron, Toledo and Youngstown. Toepfer was sworn in by Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi at the U.S. Courthouse in Akron after U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi appointed him to the open position. Federal law says the U.S. attorney general may appoint a U.S. attorney for the district when vacant. President Trump's nomination of Toepfer to the position remains pending in the Senate. "It is the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Northern Ohio in this role. Our office will continue working with our federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to protect the public by aggressively enforcing the laws of the United States," Toepfer said in a news release. "I am thankful for the trust President Trump and Attorney General Bondi have placed in me, and for the support of Senators (Bernie) Moreno and (Jon) Husted as the confirmation process proceeds through the Senate." A career prosecutor of nearly three decades, Toepfer joined the Northern District of Ohio in 2008 as an assistant United States attorney based in the Youngstown office. Most recently he served as branch chief for Youngstown and Akron, supervising attorneys and being a liaison between federal and local law enforcement. In his 17-year career he prosecuted bank robbery, firearms offenses, fraud, narcotics and export-controlled technology crimes. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Toepfer was an assistant prosecuting attorney in Trumbull County for nine years and Portage County for two years. The Warren native received the 2010 Director's Award from the U.S.Department of Justice for leading the Violence and Gun Reduction Interdiction Program in Youngstown and Warren, a federal, state, and local initiative that targeted violent offenders who illegally used and possessed firearms. Toepfer graduated from Youngstown State University and the University of Akron school of law.