U.S. Attorney | ARLnow.com

DOJ swiftly fires lawyer chosen as top federal prosecutor for Northern Virginia office

Published February 21, 2026 at 11:00AM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer picked by judges to serve as the top federal prosecutor for a Virginia office that pursued cases against foes of President Donald Trump was swiftly fired Friday by the Justice Department in the latest clash over the appointments of powerful U.S. attorneys.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the firing of James Hundley on social media shortly after he was unanimously chosen by judges to replace former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. While the law says that the district court may choose U.S. attorneys when an initial appointment expires, the Trump administration has insisted that the power lies only in the hands of the executive branch.

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Northern Virginia’s top federal prosecutor is leaving post

By The Associated Press

Published January 20, 2026 at 11:20PM

FILE - Lindsey Halligan, outside of the White House, Aug. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lindsey Halligan, who, as a hastily appointed Justice Department prosecutor, pursued indictments against a pair of President Donald Trump’s adversaries, is leaving her position as her months-long tenure has now concluded, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday night.

Halligan’s departure from the role of interim United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia came as multiple judges were casting doubt on her ability to remain in the job legally following a court ruling two months ago that declared her appointment illegal. She was appointed in September to a 120-day stint, which concluded Tuesday.

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Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted in N. Va. federal court

By The Associated Press and ARLnow.com

Published September 25, 2025 at 9:15PM

FILE - Former FBI director James Comey is sworn via videoconference before testifying during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, to examine the FBI "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation. (Ken Cedeno/Pool via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — James Comey was charged Thursday with lying to Congress in a criminal case filed days after President Donald Trump appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies.

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump’s chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

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Northern Virginia’s top federal prosecutor resigns amid pressure from White House

By The Associated Press

Published September 20, 2025 at 8:30AM

FILE - Erik Siebert, interim U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi, right, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, left, listen during a news conference at the Manassas FBI Field Office, March 27, 2025, in Manassas, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor in Virginia whose monthslong mortgage fraud investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James has not resulted in criminal charges resigned Friday under pressure from the Trump administration.

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Arrest made in crime spree involving four Columbia Pike armed robberies

By Jared Serre

Published November 14, 2024 at 1:15PM | Updated November 14, 2024 at 3:59PM

A suspect, identified by prosecutors as Antonio Kingsbury, robs a Subway on Columbia Pike (via U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia)

A man accused of carrying out a spate of armed robberies across the D.C. area — including four in Arlington — has been arrested.

Antonio Kingsbury, 36, is accused of committing at least 17 armed robberies between Jan. 9 and Nov. 7, including at several establishments along Columbia Pike, according to federal prosecutors.

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BREAKING: Former swim club board president pleads guilty to sexually exploiting children

By ARLnow.com

Published January 23, 2024 at 4:25PM | Updated January 23, 2024 at 10:20PM

Mark Black (courtesy Alexandria Sheriff's Office)

A former board president of the Arlington Aquatic Club pled guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit several children.

Mark Black, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement one month before he was set to go to trial in federal court on Feb. 27, according to a press release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

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NEW: Former Arlington Aquatic Club board president faces trial for child pornography charges

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 30, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated November 30, 2023 at 8:23PM

Pool at the Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center (staff photo)

(Updated at 8:20 p.m.) A former board president of Arlington Aquatic Club is set to go to trial next year for child pornography and sexual coercion charges, according to court documents.

Mark Black, who is about to turn 50, according to public records, was arraigned in federal court last week. A trial date was set for Feb. 27, 2024.

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Arlington doc indicted by feds for alleged pill scheme

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2023 at 11:30AM

Gavel (Flickr photo by Joe Gratz)

An Arlington doctor is facing federal charges after a grand jury indicted her for the illicit distribution of opioid pills.

Dr. Kirsten Ball is facing nearly a dozen counts of charges related to oxycodone distribution. Federal prosecutors say she and her office manager, who was convicted and sentenced last year, conspired to dispense “vast quantities of oxycodone to her patients — contrary to ordinary standards of medical care.”

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Former Rosslyn coffee shop owner sentenced to prison in credit card fraud scheme

By Jo DeVoe

Published April 6, 2023 at 9:55AM

Adiam Berhane, 50, the former co-owner of Caffè Aficionado in Rosslyn (by ARLnow)

A co-owner of the former Caffe Aficionado in Rosslyn and two accomplices have been sentenced in connection with a multi-year credit card fraud scheme.

On March 15, co-owner Adiam Berhane, 50, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a press release yesterday (Wednesday). Berhane faced a minimum of two and a maximum of 196 years in prison, per federal sentencing guidelines.

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Former Rosslyn coffee shop owner convicted of credit card fraud

By ARLnow.com

Published December 14, 2022 at 11:10AM | Updated December 14, 2022 at 11:29AM

Adiam Berhane, left, at Caffe Aficionado in 2013 (staff photo)

The former owner of a coffee shop in Rosslyn has been convicted of an extensive credit card fraud scheme.

Adiam Berhane, 50, was the co-owner of Caffe Aficionado in Rosslyn, which was open from 2013 until 2016, when the cafe was shut down following a police raid. Federal prosecutors said Berhane used the cafe to process fraudulent payments after obtaining stolen credit card information from the internet — and last week a federal jury in Alexandria agreed.

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Woman pleads guilty to opioid conspiracy run out of Arlington doctor’s office

By ARLnow.com

Published June 28, 2022 at 10:30AM

Gavel (Flickr photo by Joe Gratz)

An Arlington doctor’s office was the hub of a “decade-long oxycodone distribution network,” federal prosecutors say.

A Front Royal woman who authorities say was the “ringleader” of the scheme, which prescribed tens of thousands of pills between 2012 and 2022, pleaded guilty Monday. Candie Marie Calix, 40, could face up to 20 years in prison at her scheduled sentencing on September 28.

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Feds release new details about Jan. 6 weapons cache at Arlington hotel

By ARLnow.com

Published January 18, 2022 at 10:30AM

Comfort Inn hotel in Ballston (photo via Google Maps)

Members of the Oath Keepers militia group used the Comfort Inn in Ballston as a weapons cache during the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to new details released by federal prosecutors.

Militia members brought “firearms, ammunition, and related items” to the hotel in advance of Jan. 6, federal prosecutors say. Some details of the hotel’s unwitting role in the insurrection were previously reported. Surveillance photos from the hotel show large gun cases being wheeled in on luggage carts.