Troy Eid
Encyclopedia
Troy A. Eid, a former United States Attorney now in private law practice with Greenberg Traurig LLP http://gtlaw.com/ in Denver, CO, is the Chair of the Indian Law and Order Commission http://www.indianlawandordercommission.com/ This all volunteer blue-ribbon advisory panel was created by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 to recommend changes to the President and Congress on strengthening public safety on Indian reservations throughout the United States. Eid, a Republican who was appointed as Colorado’s U.S. Attorney by President George W. Bush
, was named to the Indian Law and Order Commission by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV) and unanimously elected Chair by its nine members in April 2011. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at both the University of Colorado Law School and the University of Denver College of Law, where he teaches civil and criminal law with a focus on energy, natural resources, environmental regulation, and American Indian law.
, Illinois
to Edward and Sandra Eid. Edward Eid was an Egyptian who immigrated to the United States in 1957 with just $100. Troy was raised in Wheat Ridge
, Colorado
and graduated from Stanford University
in 1986, majoring in Russian Language and Literature. At Stanford he was a research assistant for then-Associate Professor Condoleezza Rice. At graduation, Eid was awarded the prestigious John W. Gardner Fellowship, a joint Stanford-University of California at Berkeley award honoring the late John Gardner, the architect of the Great Society under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Eid was elected editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Stanford Daily
, and met his future wife, Allison Hartwell
, while standing in line at a dorm cafeteria, where she was working as a food-service worker; she later said: "It was love at first sight in the meal card line." Eid graduated in 1986 and, along with Hartwell, attended the University of Chicago Law School
, where he earned his law degree in 1991. Eid is admitted to practice law
in Colorado and the Navajo Nation
, and his legal practice has focused on environmental
, natural resource
s and federal Indian law
. He was elected to membership in the American Law Institute
, and has been recognized as one of the country'd top practicing attorneys in both American Indian Law and environmental law by Chambers USA and was named by The Denver Post
as one of 2007's "People to Watch". He passed the Navajo Nation bar examination in 2005 and now chairs the Committee on Training for the Navajo Nation Bar Association, which is responsible for legal education and the semi-annual bar exam on the country’s largest Indian reservation.
Eid served as a law clerk
to Edith Jones
, Chief Judge of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
before entering private law practice in 1992 at Holme Roberts & Owen
in Denver
. From 1994 to 1999, Eid served as general counsel
and chief operating officer
of the National Information Infrastructure Testbed, an Internet technology research consortium formed to prototype advanced Internet applications in such areas manufacturing, health care and environmental protection. In his capacity with the consortium, Eid directed engineering teams in North America, Europe and Asia.
Bill Owens. Owens first appointed him chief legal counsel, where he oversaw the appointment of 34 state judges. Eid also served as executive director for the Department of Personnel & Administration, where he was responsible for Colorado's workforce of 70,000. Within days of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre
, Eid was chosen to head an independent commission reviewing the Jefferson County
law enforcement response. He also chaired the Colorado State's Board of Ethics, served on more than a dozen state boards during his time in Owens' cabinet and eventually served as chief administrative officer
for Colorado's $13-billion state government
. Owens described Eid as a model of integrity and uprightness while serving on the cabinet, and said of his work during that time, ""It's a trial by fire, and when you survive it, typically it means you're going to be a very good lawyer." In recognition of his reforms to the state personnel system, Eid -- who co-chaired a statewide commission with former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm (D) focused on the future of the state workforce -- was awarded the "Outstanding Governmental Official of the Year Award" by both the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2003..
was appointed the state's attorney general
in December 2004, Troy Eid was considered for his replacement, along with Larimer County
District Attorney Stu VanMeveren and Arapahoe County
District Attorney Jim Peters. Eid withdrew his name from consideration in January 2006, claiming the 13-month selection process was taking too long. Eid also withdrew in part because his wife, Allison Eid, was under consideration for the Denver-based Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
; the appointment would have created a conflict of interest since the U.S. Attorney oversees cases that often end up in the circuit court. Eid denied that his withdrawal had anything to do with Jack Abramoff
, who had recently been fired from Greenberg Traurig and who was later sentenced to serve five years and ten months in prison on numerous fraud convictions. Eid insisted the fact that he had been selected for an internal ethics committee at the firm indicated that he didn't "have an Abramoff problem."
After withdrawing, Eid announced he would run for an at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents
. In March 2006, Allison Eid was appointed Associate Justice
on the Colorado Supreme Court
, which removed the potential conflict because the U.S. Attorney does not get involved in state court matters. By that time, VanMeveren and Peters had also been removed from consideration for U.S. Attorney. When the White House
asked for three more names, Senator
Wayne Allard
recommended only William Leone, who had been serving as acting U.S. Attorney since January 1, 2005. Leone, however, had been placed on a list of U.S. Attorneys to be fired for political reasons
by Kyle Sampson
, Chief of Staff
to Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales
, and the White House instead asked Eid to reconsider. White House officials did not consider any other candidates besides Eid, who suspended his campaign for the University of Colorado Board of Regents in order to accept the U.S. Attorney position.
Eid was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush
on June 9, 2006, making him the 41st United States Attorney for the state of Colorado and the first Arab-American ever appointed to serve as a U.S. Attorney. Eid, who said he was "totally stunned" by the invitation, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate
on August 4, 2006. He served as Colorado's chief federal criminal prosecutor
and represented the United States in civil cases where the government was party to a lawsuit. When Eid started the position with about 2,500 civil and criminal cases among 120 people, which he described as one of the heaviest caseloads outside of Washington, D.C. In addition to the cases, Eid said his priorities upon assuming the office were enforcing immigration law
s, cracking down on drug trafficking, and creating a cyber-crime unit to fight child solicitation and pornography
. In his first few weeks on the job, Eid visited with local, state and federal law enforcement and met one-on-one with everybody on his approximately 140-person staff. The salary was about $142,000 a year.
, the former chairman of the board
and chief executive officer
of Qwest Communications International indicted on 42 counts of insider trading
. Nacchio was accused of selling $101 million of Qwest stock in the first five months of 2001 despite knowledge from company insider's that Qwest's financial condition was deteriorating. Leone had been lead prosecutor on the Nacchio case since 2002, but several members of the prosecution team had left throughout the years due to infighting that threatened to derail the case. Due to the problems with the Nacchio team and prior failures to achieve convictions against other Qwest employees, U.S. Department of Justice
officials became concerned about the Denver office's ability to get a conviction and considered taking over the prosecution. Eid persuaded them otherwise in part by hiring Cliff Stricklin, who prosecuted the case
against former Enron
officials Jeffrey Skilling
and Kenneth Lay
in response to the Enron scandal
. Although Stricklin was difficult to woo following his Enron success, Eid successfully hired Stricklin in August 2006 as First Assistant U.S. Attorney of Colorado and the head prosecutor for the Nacchio case
The prosecution team, which had about seven months to prepare for trial, also included Justice Department litigator Colleen Conry; Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Traskos; former tobacco litigation task force prosecutor Leo Wise; and Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney James Hearty, the only prosecutor who served on Leone's original Qwest team. The prosecutors reportedly got along very well and heeded lessons from previous unsuccessful corporate fraud
, which prompted Stricklin to describe them as "the very best team" he ever worked with. The trial began in March 2007 and in April, Nacchio was convicted of 19 of the 42 counts of insider trading. On July 28, he was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay a $19 million fine and forfeit the $52 million he grossed on the illegal sales. Eid described the Nacchio case as the largest insider trading case in United States history; regarding the verdict and sentencing, Eid said, "This is what the American criminal justice system is all about" and said, "'Convicted felon Joe Nacchio' has a very nice ring to it."
Nacchio appealed the verdict, arguing that then-federal Judge
Edward Nottingham
had improperly excluded a defense witness from offering expert evidence during the trial. In a two-to-one decision on March 17, 2008, the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned all 19 guilty counts and ordered a new trial before a different judge. Eid appealed the decision to the full appellate court, and recruited Edwin Kneedler
, principal deputy solicitor general
for the Department of Justice and a veteran Supreme Court
attorney, to represent the government in the case; Eid said of Kneedler, "We wanted the best and we got him." In Feb. of 2009, an en banc panel of the Tenth Circuit reversed the previous panel's decision and reinstated all 19 convictions.
Sea turtles are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a multilateral treaty of which the U.S., Mexico and 170 other countries are parties.
In recognition of the success of Operation Central, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Justice were later awarded the Animal Welfare Institute’s prestigious Clark R. Bavin Law Enforcement Award for this multi-year undercover investigation of unlawful international trafficking in sea turtle parts and products. The award was presented by Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Operation Central was the largest probe ever of the unlawful commercial exploitation of highly endangered sea turtles – all of which are listed under Appendix I of CITES which bans international trade. Operation Central was planned and designed to infiltrate two widely active segments of the black market wildlife trade – sea turtle skin and skin products moving illegally from Mexico to the United States and sea turtle shell and shell products being smuggled to the United States from China. The investigation also documented the role of U.S. retailers in the unlawful commercial exploitation of other CITES-listed species (including caimans and lizards) in the exotic boot trade. The government of Mexico coordinated enforcement activities with the Fish and Wildlife Service that also resulted in arrests in Mexico.
The Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Awards are named in memory of the late Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, who pioneered the agency's highly effective use of covert investigations and "sting" operations to uncover illegal wildlife trade. The awards have traditionally been presented by the Secretary-General of CITES during meetings of the Conference of the Parties.
to 2008 Republican Party
presidential nominee
Senator John McCain
. Although the powder was not lethal, Ramsey could face at least five years on charges of knowingly mailing a threat. Later that month, Eid also assessed an alleged assassination plot
against then-Senator Barack Obama
, the Democratic presidential nominee, after alleged plotters Shawn Robert Adolf, Tharin Robert Gartrell and Nathan Johnson were arrested just prior to the 2008 Democratic National Convention
. Although the trio were charged with drug and weapon charges, Eid declared that the racist
statements the suspects made following their arrests had not risen to the legal standard that would have allowed the filing of federal charges for threatening a presidential candidate. At an August 26 press conference, Eid dismissed the trio as drug
addicts and said the "meth
heads were not a true threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention or the people of Colorado."
Eid was accused by some of showing a political bias by prosecuting Ramsey without charging Gartrell, Adolf and Johnson, but Eid defended the decision; in a letter responding to the criticism, he wrote, “It would have been disgraceful for me or any other prosecutor to charge someone for a crime he didn’t commit. ... There was no probable cause to support such a charge. To the extent you challenge my motives or those of the many investigating agents and career prosecutors who all reached this conclusion in this matter, you’re mistaken.” Eid aides admitted, however, that the decision not to charge was at least in part because they did not believe a jury would convict them based on the reliability of Johnson's testimony; Jeffrey Dorschner, Eid's spokesman, said a defense attorney “would tear him apart.”
Eid also focused extensively on Native American issues while serving as Colorado’s U.S. Attorney. He partnered with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Director of its Justice Department, Janelle Doughty, to create a regional program to train tribal, state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal criminal law on Indian reservations in Southwestern Colorado. This program later expanded to include officers from more than 35 Indian tribes from 17 states. Eid’s pilot program gained the attention of Senator Byron L. Dorgan, who praised it as a national success story in strengthening criminal justice in Indian Country and used it as the model for the bill’s expanded training provisions.
, and run for Colorado Attorney General
in 2010. Eid sought to fill the position expected to be vacated by John W. Suthers, who was planning to run for governor or U.S. Senate. However, shortly after Eid's resignation, Suthers announced that he would seek re-election as attorney general rather than run for higher office. In response, Eid dropped plans to run for attorney general, describing Suthers as one of his close friends and claiming, "Challenging John is not part of my equation." Eid rejoined the private firm Greenberg Traurig, where he had worked from 2003 to 2006. Eid said he had not decided to seek any other office.
. A primary goal of S.797 is to improve the prosecution of crimes on Tribal Lands by filling the jurisdictional gap left when federal jurisdiction over tribal lands was removed in 1953 by Public Law 280
. In his testimony, Eid cited examples of the jurisdictional complexity he encountered during his time as U.S. Attorney.
Eid testified in support of the Tribal Law & Order Act at the invitation of U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan. In July 2009, Dorgan wrote Eid: “Your continued dedication to Indian Country after your service to the United States is truly admirable.” Eid also worked extensively to support passage of the legislation. When the bill lacked sufficient votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, Eid and former U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger of Minnesota wrote a joint letter to Republican leaders urging its passage. In recognition of Eid’s efforts, The Denver Post wrote: “Special kudos to former U.S. Attorney Troy Eid, who worked tirelessly to bring justice to tribal lands”.
The Tribal Law and Order created the nine-member Indian Law and Order Commission, which is responsible for reporting to the President and Congress by July 2012 on legal and policy recommendations to strengthen public safety in and near Indian reservations across the United States. Eid was appointed to the Commission by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV) on December 23, 2010 and unanimously elected chair by the commission's members on April 6, 2011.
, who was appointed an Associate Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court
by then-Governor Bill Owens in February 2006. The Eids have two children together named Alex and Emily. Allison has described her husband as one who enjoys and embraces challenges; citing his decision to take the Navajo Nation's bar exam during his time as a private attorney, she said, ""What 41-year-old man is going to willingly take the bar? He's just someone who jumps in and says, 'I'm going to meet this challenge.'"
Eid and one of his former students at CU Law School, Carrie Covington Doyle, co-authored an article concluding that the federal criminal justice system in Indian Country illegally discriminates against the rights of Native Americans in violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Among other things, Eid and Doyle noted that the punishments imposed on Native American offenders, especially juveniles, are systematically harsher than punishments for identical or very similar offenses committed by non-Indians. "Separate But Unequal: The Federal Criminal Justice System in Indian Country," 81 University of Colorado Law Review 1067 (Fall 2010).
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, was named to the Indian Law and Order Commission by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
(D-NV) and unanimously elected Chair by its nine members in April 2011. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at both the University of Colorado Law School and the University of Denver College of Law, where he teaches civil and criminal law with a focus on energy, natural resources, environmental regulation, and American Indian law.
Early career
Troy Eid was born in 1963 in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
to Edward and Sandra Eid. Edward Eid was an Egyptian who immigrated to the United States in 1957 with just $100. Troy was raised in Wheat Ridge
Wheat Ridge, Colorado
The City of Wheat Ridge is a Home Rule Municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is a western suburb of Denver. The Wheat Ridge Municipal Center is approximately west-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and graduated from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1986, majoring in Russian Language and Literature. At Stanford he was a research assistant for then-Associate Professor Condoleezza Rice. At graduation, Eid was awarded the prestigious John W. Gardner Fellowship, a joint Stanford-University of California at Berkeley award honoring the late John Gardner, the architect of the Great Society under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Eid was elected editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Stanford Daily
The Stanford Daily
The Stanford Daily is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. The Daily is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the University was founded in 1892.The paper publishes weekdays...
, and met his future wife, Allison Hartwell
Allison H. Eid
Allison Hartwell Eid is the 95th Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, having been appointed to the post in 2006 by Republican Governor Bill Owens....
, while standing in line at a dorm cafeteria, where she was working as a food-service worker; she later said: "It was love at first sight in the meal card line." Eid graduated in 1986 and, along with Hartwell, attended the University of Chicago Law School
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...
, where he earned his law degree in 1991. Eid is admitted to practice law
Law of the United States
The law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States...
in Colorado and the Navajo Nation
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
, and his legal practice has focused on environmental
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, natural resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
s and federal Indian law
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. He was elected to membership in the American Law Institute
American Law Institute
The American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law...
, and has been recognized as one of the country'd top practicing attorneys in both American Indian Law and environmental law by Chambers USA and was named by The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
as one of 2007's "People to Watch". He passed the Navajo Nation bar examination in 2005 and now chairs the Committee on Training for the Navajo Nation Bar Association, which is responsible for legal education and the semi-annual bar exam on the country’s largest Indian reservation.
Eid served as a law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
to Edith Jones
Edith Jones
Edith Hollan Jones is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.Jones graduated from Cornell University in 1971. She received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 1974...
, Chief Judge of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Louisiana* Middle District of Louisiana...
before entering private law practice in 1992 at Holme Roberts & Owen
Holme Roberts & Owen
Holme Roberts & Owen is a law firm based in Denver, Colorado with over 210 attorneys. The only international law firm based in Denver, it has several other offices in the United States and worldwide...
in Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. From 1994 to 1999, Eid served as general counsel
General Counsel
A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
and chief operating officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
of the National Information Infrastructure Testbed, an Internet technology research consortium formed to prototype advanced Internet applications in such areas manufacturing, health care and environmental protection. In his capacity with the consortium, Eid directed engineering teams in North America, Europe and Asia.
Cabinet of Gov. Bill Owens
From 1999 to 2003, Eid served in the cabinet of then-Colorado GovernorGovernor of Colorado
The Governor of Colorado is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the...
Bill Owens. Owens first appointed him chief legal counsel, where he oversaw the appointment of 34 state judges. Eid also served as executive director for the Department of Personnel & Administration, where he was responsible for Colorado's workforce of 70,000. Within days of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
, Eid was chosen to head an independent commission reviewing the Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Colorado
Jefferson County , whose slogan is the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains", is the fourth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Located along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Jefferson County is adjacent to the west side of the state capital, Denver....
law enforcement response. He also chaired the Colorado State's Board of Ethics, served on more than a dozen state boards during his time in Owens' cabinet and eventually served as chief administrative officer
Chief administrative officer
A chief administrative officer is responsible for administrative management of private, public or governmental corporations. The CAO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, managing daily operations and usually reporting directly to the chief executive officer. In some companies,...
for Colorado's $13-billion state government
State government
A state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...
. Owens described Eid as a model of integrity and uprightness while serving on the cabinet, and said of his work during that time, ""It's a trial by fire, and when you survive it, typically it means you're going to be a very good lawyer." In recognition of his reforms to the state personnel system, Eid -- who co-chaired a statewide commission with former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm (D) focused on the future of the state workforce -- was awarded the "Outstanding Governmental Official of the Year Award" by both the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 2003..
Appointment to U.S. Attorney
When Colorado U.S. Attorney John SuthersJohn Suthers
John William Suthers is the current Attorney General of Colorado. He is a practicing Catholic and member of the Republican Party.-Background:Suthers was born in Denver, Colorado and adopted a month later by a Colorado Springs couple....
was appointed the state's attorney general
State Attorney General
The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states and territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney general serves as the head of a state department of justice, with responsibilities similar to those...
in December 2004, Troy Eid was considered for his replacement, along with Larimer County
Larimer County, Colorado
Larimer County is the seventh most populous and the ninth most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is located at the northern end of the Front Range, at the edge of the Colorado Eastern Plains along the border with Wyoming...
District Attorney Stu VanMeveren and Arapahoe County
Arapahoe County, Colorado
As of the census of 2000, there were 487,967 people, 190,909 households, and 125,809 families residing in the county. The population density was 608 people per square mile . There were 196,835 housing units at an average density of 245 per square mile...
District Attorney Jim Peters. Eid withdrew his name from consideration in January 2006, claiming the 13-month selection process was taking too long. Eid also withdrew in part because his wife, Allison Eid, was under consideration for the Denver-based Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...
; the appointment would have created a conflict of interest since the U.S. Attorney oversees cases that often end up in the circuit court. Eid denied that his withdrawal had anything to do with Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
, who had recently been fired from Greenberg Traurig and who was later sentenced to serve five years and ten months in prison on numerous fraud convictions. Eid insisted the fact that he had been selected for an internal ethics committee at the firm indicated that he didn't "have an Abramoff problem."
After withdrawing, Eid announced he would run for an at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents
Regents of the University of Colorado
Regents of the University of Colorado are the regent directors of the University of Colorado system responsible for the overall university system. It is an elected position with a term of 6 years...
. In March 2006, Allison Eid was appointed Associate Justice
Associate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
on the Colorado Supreme Court
Colorado Supreme Court
The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices.-Appellate jurisdiction:...
, which removed the potential conflict because the U.S. Attorney does not get involved in state court matters. By that time, VanMeveren and Peters had also been removed from consideration for U.S. Attorney. When the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
asked for three more names, Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Wayne Allard
Wayne Allard
Alan Wayne Allard is a member of the Republican Party, and was a United States Senator from Colorado. He did not seek re-election in 2008.-Early life:...
recommended only William Leone, who had been serving as acting U.S. Attorney since January 1, 2005. Leone, however, had been placed on a list of U.S. Attorneys to be fired for political reasons
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
The dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy was initiated by the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States Attorneys on December 7, 2006 by the George W. Bush administration's Department of Justice. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White...
by Kyle Sampson
Kyle Sampson
D. Kyle Sampson was the Chief of Staff and Counselor of United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He resigned on March 12, 2007, amid the controversy surrounding the firing of eight United States Attorneys in 2006 and was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in July 2010...
, Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
to Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales was the 80th Attorney General of the United States. Gonzales was appointed to the post in February 2005 by President George W. Bush. Gonzales was the first Hispanic Attorney General in U.S. history and the highest-ranking Hispanic government official ever...
, and the White House instead asked Eid to reconsider. White House officials did not consider any other candidates besides Eid, who suspended his campaign for the University of Colorado Board of Regents in order to accept the U.S. Attorney position.
Eid was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on June 9, 2006, making him the 41st United States Attorney for the state of Colorado and the first Arab-American ever appointed to serve as a U.S. Attorney. Eid, who said he was "totally stunned" by the invitation, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on August 4, 2006. He served as Colorado's chief federal criminal prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
and represented the United States in civil cases where the government was party to a lawsuit. When Eid started the position with about 2,500 civil and criminal cases among 120 people, which he described as one of the heaviest caseloads outside of Washington, D.C. In addition to the cases, Eid said his priorities upon assuming the office were enforcing immigration law
Immigration law
Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
s, cracking down on drug trafficking, and creating a cyber-crime unit to fight child solicitation and pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
. In his first few weeks on the job, Eid visited with local, state and federal law enforcement and met one-on-one with everybody on his approximately 140-person staff. The salary was about $142,000 a year.
Joseph Nacchio trial
Eid was appointed as the United States Attorney for the District of Coloardo on June 9, 2006. Among the cases Eid inherited from his predecessor, acting U.S. Attorney Bill Leone, was the ongoing prosecution of Joseph NacchioJoseph Nacchio
Joseph P. Nacchio , was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Qwest Communications International from 1997 to 2002. He was convicted of 19 counts of insider trading in Qwest stock on April 19, 2007. On July 27, 2007, he was sentenced to six years in federal prison...
, the former chairman of the board
Chairman of the Board
The Chairman of the Board is a seat of office in an organization, especially of corporations.Chairman of the Board may also refer to:*Chairman of the Board , a 1998 film*Chairmen of the Board , a 1970s American soul music group...
and chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Qwest Communications International indicted on 42 counts of insider trading
Insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a corporation's stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company...
. Nacchio was accused of selling $101 million of Qwest stock in the first five months of 2001 despite knowledge from company insider's that Qwest's financial condition was deteriorating. Leone had been lead prosecutor on the Nacchio case since 2002, but several members of the prosecution team had left throughout the years due to infighting that threatened to derail the case. Due to the problems with the Nacchio team and prior failures to achieve convictions against other Qwest employees, U.S. Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
officials became concerned about the Denver office's ability to get a conviction and considered taking over the prosecution. Eid persuaded them otherwise in part by hiring Cliff Stricklin, who prosecuted the case
Trial of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling
The trial of Kenneth Lay, former chairman and CEO of Enron,and Jeffrey Skilling, former CEO and COO, was presided over by federal district court Judge Sim Lake in 2006 in response to the Enron scandal.-Timeline:* The trial began January 30, 2006....
against former Enron
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
officials Jeffrey Skilling
Jeffrey Skilling
Jeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron's financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal...
and Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Lay was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001...
in response to the Enron scandal
Enron scandal
The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world...
. Although Stricklin was difficult to woo following his Enron success, Eid successfully hired Stricklin in August 2006 as First Assistant U.S. Attorney of Colorado and the head prosecutor for the Nacchio case
The prosecution team, which had about seven months to prepare for trial, also included Justice Department litigator Colleen Conry; Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Traskos; former tobacco litigation task force prosecutor Leo Wise; and Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorney James Hearty, the only prosecutor who served on Leone's original Qwest team. The prosecutors reportedly got along very well and heeded lessons from previous unsuccessful corporate fraud
Corporate scandal
A corporate scandal is a scandal involving allegations of unethical behavior by people acting within or on behalf of a corporation. A corporate scandal sometimes involves accounting fraud of some sort...
, which prompted Stricklin to describe them as "the very best team" he ever worked with. The trial began in March 2007 and in April, Nacchio was convicted of 19 of the 42 counts of insider trading. On July 28, he was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay a $19 million fine and forfeit the $52 million he grossed on the illegal sales. Eid described the Nacchio case as the largest insider trading case in United States history; regarding the verdict and sentencing, Eid said, "This is what the American criminal justice system is all about" and said, "'Convicted felon Joe Nacchio' has a very nice ring to it."
Nacchio appealed the verdict, arguing that then-federal Judge
United States federal judge
In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
Edward Nottingham
Edward Nottingham
Edward Willis Nottingham, Jr. is a former United States federal judge in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado having served in that office from November 24, 1989 until his resignation on October 21, 2008....
had improperly excluded a defense witness from offering expert evidence during the trial. In a two-to-one decision on March 17, 2008, the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned all 19 guilty counts and ordered a new trial before a different judge. Eid appealed the decision to the full appellate court, and recruited Edwin Kneedler
Edwin Kneedler
- Early life and education :Kneedler attended North Penn High School; he graduated in 1963. Kneedler earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1967 from Lehigh University. He then earned a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1974. From 1974 until 1975, he clerked for...
, principal deputy solicitor general
United States Solicitor General
The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
for the Department of Justice and a veteran Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
attorney, to represent the government in the case; Eid said of Kneedler, "We wanted the best and we got him." In Feb. of 2009, an en banc panel of the Tenth Circuit reversed the previous panel's decision and reinstated all 19 convictions.
Operation Central
Beginning in 2007, Eid oversaw the nationally recognized Operation Central, a successful joint U.S.-Mexican prosecution of criminal trafficking in endangered sea turtles. A three-year international investigation led to multiple arrests on charges of smuggling the skins of endangered sea turtles and other protected animals for use in making boots, belts and wallets. Eid described as "unprecedented" the cooperation between U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents and Mexican authorities.Sea turtles are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a multilateral treaty of which the U.S., Mexico and 170 other countries are parties.
In recognition of the success of Operation Central, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Justice were later awarded the Animal Welfare Institute’s prestigious Clark R. Bavin Law Enforcement Award for this multi-year undercover investigation of unlawful international trafficking in sea turtle parts and products. The award was presented by Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Operation Central was the largest probe ever of the unlawful commercial exploitation of highly endangered sea turtles – all of which are listed under Appendix I of CITES which bans international trade. Operation Central was planned and designed to infiltrate two widely active segments of the black market wildlife trade – sea turtle skin and skin products moving illegally from Mexico to the United States and sea turtle shell and shell products being smuggled to the United States from China. The investigation also documented the role of U.S. retailers in the unlawful commercial exploitation of other CITES-listed species (including caimans and lizards) in the exotic boot trade. The government of Mexico coordinated enforcement activities with the Fish and Wildlife Service that also resulted in arrests in Mexico.
The Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Awards are named in memory of the late Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, who pioneered the agency's highly effective use of covert investigations and "sting" operations to uncover illegal wildlife trade. The awards have traditionally been presented by the Secretary-General of CITES during meetings of the Conference of the Parties.
Other U.S. Attorney service
In August 2008, Troy Eid charged Marc Garold Ramsey, 39, for sending a threatening letter with a white powdery substancePowder (substance)
A powder is a dry,thick bulk solid composed of a large number of very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms powder and granular are sometimes used to distinguish separate classes of material...
to 2008 Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
presidential nominee
Presidential nominee
In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two distinct meanings.The first is the person chosen by the primary voters and caucus-goers of a political party to be the party's nominee for President of the United States...
Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
. Although the powder was not lethal, Ramsey could face at least five years on charges of knowingly mailing a threat. Later that month, Eid also assessed an alleged assassination plot
2008 Barack Obama assassination scare in Denver
The Barack Obama assassination scare in Denver refers to an alleged plot by Shawn Robert Adolf, Tharin Robert Gartrell and Nathan Dwaine Johnson to assassinate Barack Obama, then the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nominee...
against then-Senator Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, the Democratic presidential nominee, after alleged plotters Shawn Robert Adolf, Tharin Robert Gartrell and Nathan Johnson were arrested just prior to the 2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
The United States 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...
. Although the trio were charged with drug and weapon charges, Eid declared that the racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
statements the suspects made following their arrests had not risen to the legal standard that would have allowed the filing of federal charges for threatening a presidential candidate. At an August 26 press conference, Eid dismissed the trio as drug
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
addicts and said the "meth
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
heads were not a true threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention or the people of Colorado."
Eid was accused by some of showing a political bias by prosecuting Ramsey without charging Gartrell, Adolf and Johnson, but Eid defended the decision; in a letter responding to the criticism, he wrote, “It would have been disgraceful for me or any other prosecutor to charge someone for a crime he didn’t commit. ... There was no probable cause to support such a charge. To the extent you challenge my motives or those of the many investigating agents and career prosecutors who all reached this conclusion in this matter, you’re mistaken.” Eid aides admitted, however, that the decision not to charge was at least in part because they did not believe a jury would convict them based on the reliability of Johnson's testimony; Jeffrey Dorschner, Eid's spokesman, said a defense attorney “would tear him apart.”
Eid also focused extensively on Native American issues while serving as Colorado’s U.S. Attorney. He partnered with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Director of its Justice Department, Janelle Doughty, to create a regional program to train tribal, state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal criminal law on Indian reservations in Southwestern Colorado. This program later expanded to include officers from more than 35 Indian tribes from 17 states. Eid’s pilot program gained the attention of Senator Byron L. Dorgan, who praised it as a national success story in strengthening criminal justice in Indian Country and used it as the model for the bill’s expanded training provisions.
Resignation and Attorney General bid
With the election of President Barack Obama, Eid was expected to be replaced as U.S. Attorney, as is the custom with a change of presidential administrations. On January 7, 2009, Eid announced he would resign as U.S. Attorney on January 19, the day before President Barack Obama's inaugurationInauguration of Barack Obama
The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C., marked the commencement of the four-year term of Barack Obama as President and Joe...
, and run for Colorado Attorney General
Colorado Attorney General
The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the state of Colorado, and the head of the Colorado Department of Law...
in 2010. Eid sought to fill the position expected to be vacated by John W. Suthers, who was planning to run for governor or U.S. Senate. However, shortly after Eid's resignation, Suthers announced that he would seek re-election as attorney general rather than run for higher office. In response, Eid dropped plans to run for attorney general, describing Suthers as one of his close friends and claiming, "Challenging John is not part of my equation." Eid rejoined the private firm Greenberg Traurig, where he had worked from 2003 to 2006. Eid said he had not decided to seek any other office.
Support for S. 797 Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009
Eid testified before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in support of S. 797, the Tribal Law and Order Act on June 25, 2009. Introduced April 2, 2009, S. 797 is legislation aimed at amending the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal Assistance Act of 2000, the Indian Tribal Justice Act and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 was legislation passed by the Congress of the United States that established the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration . Title III of the Act set rules for obtaining wiretap orders in the United States. It has been started shortly after...
. A primary goal of S.797 is to improve the prosecution of crimes on Tribal Lands by filling the jurisdictional gap left when federal jurisdiction over tribal lands was removed in 1953 by Public Law 280
Public Law 280
Public Law 280 is a federal law of the United States establishing "a method whereby States may assume jurisdiction over reservation Indians," as stated by Arizona Supreme Court Justice Stanley G. Feldman. Public Law 280 is a federal law of the United States establishing "a method whereby States...
. In his testimony, Eid cited examples of the jurisdictional complexity he encountered during his time as U.S. Attorney.
Eid testified in support of the Tribal Law & Order Act at the invitation of U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan. In July 2009, Dorgan wrote Eid: “Your continued dedication to Indian Country after your service to the United States is truly admirable.” Eid also worked extensively to support passage of the legislation. When the bill lacked sufficient votes in the U.S. House of Representatives, Eid and former U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger of Minnesota wrote a joint letter to Republican leaders urging its passage. In recognition of Eid’s efforts, The Denver Post wrote: “Special kudos to former U.S. Attorney Troy Eid, who worked tirelessly to bring justice to tribal lands”.
The Tribal Law and Order created the nine-member Indian Law and Order Commission, which is responsible for reporting to the President and Congress by July 2012 on legal and policy recommendations to strengthen public safety in and near Indian reservations across the United States. Eid was appointed to the Commission by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
(D-NV) on December 23, 2010 and unanimously elected chair by the commission's members on April 6, 2011.
Family
Eid is married to Allison Hartwell EidAllison H. Eid
Allison Hartwell Eid is the 95th Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, having been appointed to the post in 2006 by Republican Governor Bill Owens....
, who was appointed an Associate Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court
Colorado Supreme Court
The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices.-Appellate jurisdiction:...
by then-Governor Bill Owens in February 2006. The Eids have two children together named Alex and Emily. Allison has described her husband as one who enjoys and embraces challenges; citing his decision to take the Navajo Nation's bar exam during his time as a private attorney, she said, ""What 41-year-old man is going to willingly take the bar? He's just someone who jumps in and says, 'I'm going to meet this challenge.'"
Writings
Eid wrote the article "Strategic Democracy-Building: How U.S. States Can Help" for The Washington Quarterly magazine, anthologized in the 2003 book, Winning Hearts and Minds: Using Soft Power to Undermine Terrorist Networks. He also wrote a 2007 article for The Federal Lawyer entitled "Beyond Oliphant: Strengthening Criminal Justice in Indian Country."Eid and one of his former students at CU Law School, Carrie Covington Doyle, co-authored an article concluding that the federal criminal justice system in Indian Country illegally discriminates against the rights of Native Americans in violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Among other things, Eid and Doyle noted that the punishments imposed on Native American offenders, especially juveniles, are systematically harsher than punishments for identical or very similar offenses committed by non-Indians. "Separate But Unequal: The Federal Criminal Justice System in Indian Country," 81 University of Colorado Law Review 1067 (Fall 2010).