Kevin V. Ryan

Infobox Person
name = Kevin V. Ryan


image_size = 150px
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birth_date = 1957
birth_place = Alberta, Canada
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education = Bachelor of Arts History, Dartmouth College. Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law.
employer = City of San Francisco
occupation = Criminal Justice Director
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The Hon. Kevin Ryan is presently the Director of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and also serves as Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Gavin Newsom. Prior to his tenure in San Francisco’s City Hall, Judge Ryan was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, a Municipal and Superior Court Judge, a Deputy District Attorney and a partner in a notable law firm.

Judge Ryan was one of the US Attorneys who resigned in what would be subsequently described by some as a public fiasco at the Department of Justice. However, Kevin Ryan of San Francisco was described by prosecutors on his staff as "retaliatory, explosive, non-communicative and paranoid," and his firing in December 2006 was fully justified, the Justice Department's inspector general said Monday, September 29th 2008 [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/29/BAC11387Q4.DTL&tsp=1] .

Early Years and Education

Mr. Ryan was raised in San Francisco by immigrant parents. He attended Saint Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco where he was a scholar-athlete and captain of both the Varsity football and track teams. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Dartmouth College, and he received his Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Deputy District Attorney

Mr. Ryan began his legal career in California as a Prosecutor with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. While in the District Attorney’s office he handled a variety of cases, including homicides and violent gang prosecutions. He was serving as a member of the Violent Gang Suppression Unit when Governor Pete Wilson appointed him in 1996 to serve as a Judge on the San Francisco Municipal Court.

Judge

In 1998, Ryan, accompanied by broad base of support, which included the endorsements of almost 100 judges; local, regional and state elected officials; law enforcement organizations, victims’ groups and community clubs; the distinction of being the sole candidate (of 10) to receive the endorsement of all three elected Municipal Attorneys – the District Attorney, the City Attorney and the Public Defender; armed with the highest possible rating by the San Francisco Bar Association (Exceptionally Well Qualified); and with the endorsement of every major newspaper in San Francisco, was overwhelmingly elected to the court by the voters of San Francisco. In fact, Judge Ryan won by the highest percentage of votes in the 5 contested judicial races.

In 1999 he began his tenure as a member of the San Francisco Superior Court. During his almost 7 years on the bench, Ryan handled matters in both the Civil and Criminal Divisions. Judge Ryan was serving as the Presiding Judge, Criminal Division, for the San Francisco Superior Court when President Bush appointed him to be the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California.

U.S. Attorney Career

On May 15, 2002, Judge Kevin V. Ryan was nominated by The President of the United States to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California (NDCA). On July 26th, 2002, upon the unanimous consent of the United States’ Senate Judiciary Committee, the United States Senate confirmed Mr. Ryan’s nomination to be one of the nation’s 93rd United States Attorneys (USA), and on July 31, 2002 the President appointed Judge Ryan to be the 48th United States Attorney for the Northern District of California.

During his tenure as the USA, Judge Ryan focused the office’s resources on a wide range of areas including white collar crime, gang and violent crime, securities fraud, cyber-crime, organized crime drug rings, healthcare fraud, child exploitation cases, alien harboring, and tax cases. Outside of the courtroom, Ryan considerably diversified the office by hiring and promoting a significant number of extraordinary women and minorities. Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay, who served as Ryan’s top deputy from 2002-2003, stated “Kevin was instrumental in bringing diversity to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (…) The women and minorities he hired fundamentally changed the dynamic of the office for the better. One of the things I noticed in working with Kevin was that he was not afraid to make people accountable for their actions. Most importantly, Kevin brought courage to, and a fresh look at, complex problems that merited the government’s attention. Kevin was not afraid to pursue complex cases and issues, like terrorism, Balco, stock options backdating, and corporate fraud.”

USA Ryan was selected with 6 other United States Attorney’s to serve on President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force. Additionally, he has been appointed by the Attorney General to serve on Three of the Attorney General’s Subcommittees: Terrorism and National Security; Controlled Substances and Environmental. In April 2004, Mr. Ryan was selected, along with only one other USA, to join the Department of Justice’s newly created Justice Department’s Intellectual Property Task Force, and in November 2004 USA Ryan was asked to join, with 6 other United States Attorneys, a newly created Health Care Fraud Working Group. Mr. Ryan also served as a Board member and as the Vice Chair and Chair for the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) working group, as a member of the Executive Board of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, and as an Honorary Officer of the Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California Chapter.

GANGS AND VIOLENT CRIME

Ryan’s tenure was noted for taking an aggressive stance in criminal street gang cases, and using powerful federal RICO statutes to take violent offenders off the street. The office was also productive in aggressively prosecuting felons possessing firearms as part of the President’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. Outside of the courtroom, Ryan was instrumental in securing over $3 million in federal funding to weed out the worst offenders, and to provide organizations with funding to create and sustain community development programs and initiatives. Ryan supported the Northern District Gang Prevention Summit, which worked to build relationships to help prevent gang violence by bringing together nationally renowned experts, community leaders, policy makers, and law enforcement officials to discuss ongoing efforts to prevent gang violence.

Police Chief Heather Fong confirmed, “We have had great successes, at all levels, because of our partnership with the Office of the U. S. Attorney. In San Francisco, we have made significant accomplishments in suppressing gun and gang violence, as well as human trafficking, due to our collaboration with the U. S. Attorney. All of us will miss U. S. Attorney Kevin Ryan and his support and energy for our law enforcement endeavors.” Some noteworthy cases in this area include:

In October 2005, twelve members of the Down Below Gang – a violent street gang in San Francisco – were indicted on charges of seven murders and seven attempted murders. Eight pleaded guilty in December 2006. Four of those convicted received sentences of 15 years or more in federal prison.

In March 2006, 15 associates of the Project Trojan criminal street gang in North Richmond individuals were indicted on conspiracy drug dealing charges.

In March 2006, the final two defendants in a four-year prosecution – which netted 35 convictions of members and associates of the Big Block gang in San Francisco – were sentenced to 20 and 23 years in prison respectively.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera stated: "In my five years as City Attorney, Kevin Ryan helped forge an unprecedented level of cooperation between the U.S. Attorney's Office and mine on issues like gang violence and others (…) Kevin has demonstrated himself to be an extremely capable, forward-thinking leader, and I'm confident he will continue to be an important force in the legal community for the cause of justice." Deputy Chief of Police Morris Tabak, similarly concurred, noting: “Over the years, the San Francisco Police Bureau of Investigations has enjoyed an extremely close working relationship with U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan (…) His office has been instrumental in charging many of San Francisco's gang related murders and other gang associated crimes. An example is the many federal indictments issued resulting in the arrests of members of the Big Block, West Mob, Page Street and most recently the Down Below gangs, essentially dismantling them as a result. We also thank the U.S. Attorney for prosecuting a major out-of-state gun smuggling operation that was supplying firearms to San Francisco gang members. San Francisco is truly a much safer city today thanks to Kevin Ryan.”

WHITE COLLAR CRIME, SECURITIES FRAUD, COMPUTER HACKING AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES

As a member of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force and the Department of Justice’s Intellectual Property Task Force, Ryan has oversaw a number of significant ‘firsts’ in the prosecution of white collar crime and intellectual property offenses. Notably, Ryan established the Northern California U.S. Attorney’s Office as a national leader in prosecuting stock options backdating cases after he formed the Northern California Stock Options Backdating Task Force. The office also had numerous successes in computer hacking and intellectual property, environmental crimes, as well as over $129.4 million in payments from two large healthcare fraud cases. Some of the noteworthy cases in these areas include:

The country’s first indictment for stock options backdating offenses against two executives of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Both have since been convicted by Jury.

Three Enron executives were convicted for their role in manipulating the energy markets during the California Energy Crisis.

Williams Power Company paid $50 million in a deferred prosecution agreement for knowingly submitting false natural gas price data to benefit their position in the market. Additionally, six natural gas traders have pleaded guilty for manipulating natural gas prices.

The first conviction for “pretexting” involving Hewlett-Packard officials and journalists

Two founders and four brokers of the Dorean Group have been indicted for their role in a fraudulent “mortgage elimination scheme.” Investigators are continuing to investigate more than 550 properties throughout 35 states with a potential value of greater than $88 million in loans that may have been affected by this alleged scheme

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Pavel Lazarenko, was sentenced in August 2006 to nine years in prison and ordered to pay a $10 million fine for extorting over $40 million dollars from Ukrainian citizens and laundering over $20 million through American banks.

HEALTHCARE FRAUD

Endovascular Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Guidant Corporation, pleaded guilty to 10 felonies and agreed to pay $92.4 million to resolve criminal and civil charges that it covered up thousands of incidents in which a medical device used to treat aneurysms in the aorta malfunctioned. Among the thousands of incidents covered up by the company were 12 deaths and dozens of invasive surgeries.

InterMune, Inc., a Brisbane, California biopharmaceutical company, agreed to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement and to pay nearly $37 million to resolve criminal charges and civil liability in connection with its illegal promotion and marketing of its drug Actimmune (Interferon gamma-1b) in October 2006.

COMPUTER HACKING AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – THE CHIP UNIT:

The CHIP Unit, which is based in the San Jose branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was established in 2000 and was the first federal specialized prosecution unit in a U.S. Attorney’s Office. This model has been followed in other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and there are now about twenty-five CHIP Units in offices around the country. Some of the noteworthy cases prosecuted by this unit, under USA Ryan, include: The country’s first conviction for violations of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Additionally, the CHIP Unit brought the second and third indictments in the country under the ten years of this statute. These cases involve trade secrets stolen with the intent to benefit foreign governments, including China, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Operation Remaster netted approximately 494,000 CDs and 5,500 stampers in what the Recording Industry Association of America said was the largest seizure of counterfeit CDs in the country at that time. All three defendants in that case pled guilty.

Operation Copycat has yielded 35 convictions. Defendants pleaded guilty to illegally distributing pirated movies, games and software over the Internet. Two film critics who sold pre-release movies for illegal distribution have been convicted, and the operation has yielded the first convictions in the country for camcording in a movie theater and uploading “pre-release” movies on the Internet.

ENVIRONMENTAL

One of the world’s largest shipping companies, A.P. Moller-Maersk, A/S of Denmark pleaded guilty in September 2005 to providing false documents to the U.S. Coast Guard during a routine inspection of one of its cargo ships to ensure compliance with the international MARPOL treaty, which limits oil pollution from ships.

Ryan dedicated $1.5 million to rehabilitating and restoring marine wildlife habitat in the San Francisco Bay to further protect the California leopard shark. Over $900,000 came from payments by a San Leandro church, and restitution by the church’s pastor and five other criminal defendants who were involved with an operation that poached thousands of California leopard sharks from the San Francisco Bay for more than ten years.

BALCO

U.S. Attorney Ryan oversaw the Balco steroids prosecution, which resulted in five felony convictions under his tenure, exposed the harmful side-effects of doping, and shined a light on the surprisingly widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Under his tenure, more than 15 athletes have been disciplined by regulators in their various sports. Congress has held extensive hearings on steroids in sports, including taking testimony from Major League Baseball players, and has classified Norbolethone and THG as Schedule III drugs. The U.S. Sentencing Commission has toughened federal sentencing guidelines for steroids-related offenses.Quoted in USA Today, Ryan noted: There's an honor system in sports, and people in sports have to abide by this honor system," Ryan says. "The parameters are in place now. The public is now expecting every sport to regulate itself (…) We've done our job. We should be proud."

CHILD EXPLOITATION

Some of the noteworthy cases that the office prosecuted to protect the most vulnerable members of our society included: In the first prosecution of its kind, Peace Corps volunteer Timothy Obert pleaded guilty in February 2006 to sexually assaulting a minor while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica.

In July 2005, a creator of child pornography websites, Edward Aaron Harvey, was indicted with advertisement of child pornography, transportation and attempted transportation of child pornography, and money laundering. Five subscribers from the Northern District of California were also charged.

ORGANIZED CRIME DRUG ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE – THE OCDETF SECTION:

Ron Brooks, Director of the Northern California High Intensity Drug Task Force, stated: “Kevin always demonstrated great integrity and moral courage and could be counted upon to follow his convictions on controversial issues, including his defense of the Patriot Act and the prosecution of large scale marijuana traffickers who were hiding behind medical marijuana as a defense to their multi-million dollar drug trafficking operations (…) Because of his vision, Kevin and his office were engaged in the early stages of the fight against to stop the violent street gangs that are threatening our neighborhoods. He was a leader in supporting the vigorous enforcement and prosecution of gang related crimes but he also recognized the importance of preventing gang crimes before they happen. Kevin was an innovator in Northern California by using his Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program to develop and fund prevention and outreach programs. He will be remembered by his colleagues as a tough but fair prosecutor, a champion of public safety, a person who placed service to his community before himself; and in my opinion, the finest United States Attorney I have ever known.”

Operation Ice Ax has resulted in the indictment of 19 individuals for conspiracy to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine and cocaine throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii in May 2006.

Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena, of the DEA, similarly lauded Ryan: “It has been a privilege to work side-by-side with U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan in helping to make Northern California and the San Francisco Bay community a safer place for all citizens,” said “When you are fighting international drug traffickers everyday, I can't tell you how important it is to have a U.S. Attorney who is as equally dedicated to the challenge at hand.”

ALIEN HARBORING, PUBLIC CORRUPTION, AND OTHER NOTABLE CASES

Additionally, Ryan oversaw a number of cases involving public corruption, alien harboring, and public safety. Some of the noteworthy cases in this area include: Five California DMV employees and five “brokers” were charged and convicted in 2005 and 2006 for their role in selling hundreds of fraudulent California Driver’s Licenses for up to $4,500.

Operation Gilded Cage has charged over 30 Bay Area brothel owners and others involved in the operation of massage parlors that allegedly harbored aliens for commercial advantage. Numerous defendants have pleaded guilty to date.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Roland was convicted of accepting drugs from state court defendants in February 2006. He was sentenced to six months in prison.

Four defendants were convicted and sentenced for stealing over 700 pounds of explosives from law enforcement bunkers on July 4, 2004.

Marcus O. Armstrong, formerly the highest-ranking technology officer in San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection, pleaded guilty to public corruption charges in July 2003, admitting that he defrauded San Francisco taxpayers out of more than half a million dollars through a phony invoicing and kickback scheme.

Awards

During his career as a lawyer and judge, Mr. Ryan has served both the administration of justice and the greater community in many different ways. In 1998, he was recognized by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers’ Association as the Municipal Court Trial Judge of the Year.

Also, in 1998, Judge Ryan was recognized by the Irish-Israeli-Italian Society of San Francisco for “Outstanding Service to the Community.”

Judge Ryan was appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to serve on the Judicial Council’s Executive Legislative Action Network.

He was appointed by the Governing Committee of the California Center for Judicial Education and Research to the Criminal Law Planning Committee of the California Continuing Judicial Studies Program.

He was appointed by the Presiding Judge for the Courts to the Adult Probation Department’s Oversight Committee

He served as a member of the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Superior Court.

He served as a member of the Executive Committee of the University of San Francisco School of Law’s American Inn of Courts.

He served as a Board member of the University of San Francisco’s Law School Society Board of Governors.

He is a past member of the Board of Trustees for the Schools of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco.

He served as an Honorary Board Member for the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Team Northern California.

He served for many years as a faculty member for the University of San Francisco School of Law Intensive Trial Advocacy Program.

In 2003 and 2007 Irish American Magazine recognized Mr. Ryan as one of the Nation’s Top 100 Irish Americans.

The Northern California Super Lawyers Magazine also listed Mr. Ryan as amongst the Top Attorneys in Northern California for both 2006 and 2007.

He was recognized in 2006 as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in California by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily.

Judge Ryan is a frequent speaker and lecturer. He has been interviewed and/or featured on national and international TV and radio, including ABC, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV, Korean TV, and French Public TV, and on many Bay Area local TV and radio stations, such as Channel 2, 4, 5, and 7, KGO Radio, Comcast, and Public Radio (KQED). In 2006 he was profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle Business section, and in 2007 he was profiled in USA Today for his work on the Balco case. He has also lectured a variety of subjects and appeared on panels or programs sponsored by the American Bar Association (ABA), the Practicing Law Institute (PLI), IQPC, the Association of General Counsel (AOGC), and for many other local groups and entities.

External references

“Ousted US Attorney Ryan Lands at Allen Matkins” The Recorder, 4-5-2007http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1175711401769 http://www.examiner.com/blogs-103-Fault_Lines~y2007m10d26-Could-Ryan-be-right-if-Fong-is-wrong?cid=rss-Fault_Lines “US Attorney Kevin V. Ryan Announced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html Excerpted from Department of Justice Biography “Judge’s Race Takes Wrong Turn.” San Francisco Chronicle, 3-5-98 http://www.sfisonline.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/03/05/MN45372.DTL&hw=judge&sn=134&sc=372 Excerpted from: “US Attorney Kevin V. Ryan Announced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html Departure of federal prosecutor good news for gangs, bad for S.F” 2-13-2007” Examiner http://www.examiner.com/a-“3 Prosecutors Make up Diverse Team” San Francisco Examiner, 5-17-03http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/17/BA265428.DTL&hw=Kevin+Ryan+Seth+Rosenfeld&sn=001&sc=1000 Excerpted from: “US Attorney Kevin V. Ryan Announced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html Excerpted from: “US Attorney Kevin V. Ryan Announced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html “Departure of federal prosecutor good news for gangs, bad for S.F” 2-13-2007” Examiner http://www.examiner.com/a-562490~Garcia__Departure_of_federal_prosecutor_good_news_for_gangs__bad_for_S_F_.html Excerpted from: “US Attorney Kevin V. Ryan Announced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html nounced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html Excerpted from: “US Attorney Kevin V. Ryan Announced Departure” Press release, Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can/press/2007/2007_02_15_KVR.Departure.press.html“Outgoing US Attorney Trailed BALCO and Bonds” USA Today, 1-31-2007.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2007-01-24-ryan-balco-cover_x.ht

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/29/BAC11387Q4.DTL&tsp=1