The top federal prosecutor for Massachusetts, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz has announced her resignation.
Under her leadership, prosecutors convicted former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi, infamous gangster James “ Whitey” Bulger, and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
One of the first high profile cases after she took office in 2009 was the prosecution of three men accused of burning a black church in Springfield to protest the election of Barack Obama.
" Hate crimes such as these will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted," Ortiz declared outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Springfield on June 16,2010.
She later created a Hate Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney's office.
Ortiz is the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts. Her resignation is effective January 13, 2017, a week before the next president is inaugurated.
