NEW HAVEN – U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery announced Monday, Jan. 6 she will resign from the office effective at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 17.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as United States Attorney, and I am profoundly appreciative of President Biden for trusting me to serve our nation and the people of Connecticut in this position,” said Avery, who served for two years.
“I have been especially honored to lead an office of extremely talented public servants who are dedicated to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism and committed to the cause of justice. Together, we have employed collaborative, data and intelligence-driven strategies to make our communities safer and ensure justice for all who live in our state.”
Marc Silverman, who has served as first assistant U.S. Attorney since May 2024, will serve as acting U.S. Attorney when Avery departs. He joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2010. From 2014-2022, he served as deputy chief of the Office’s Appellate Division, and from 2022 to May 2024, he was chief of the Criminal Division. Silverman, who will be the 55th U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is in excellent hands,” Avery said. “Marc and the Office’s superb supervisory team have the highest professional and ethical standards and, together with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners will ensure that the administration of justice will seamlessly continue in our district.”
Avery was appointed by President Joe Biden after confirmation by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as the 54th U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut on May 9, 2022. Under Avery’s leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office prioritized the prosecution of crimes related to gun and gang violence, firearms trafficking, narcotics and counterfeit opioid pill trafficking, child exploitation, human trafficking and smuggling, financial frauds, public corruption, cybercrime, and national security issues. In addition, the Office’s Civil Division has aggressively pursued health care fraud violators, achieved numerous disability rights settlements, and recovered millions of dollars through forfeiture actions.
In fiscal year 2023, the office recovered more than $233 million in criminal and civil actions, which ranked third in the nation among all U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
Prior to her appointment, she served as the associate attorney general and chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. From 2014 to 2019, Avery was an Assistant U.S. attorney in the Civil Division in this District, prosecuting a variety of complex civil fraud cases under the False Claims Act, asset forfeiture cases, environmental violations, civil rights matters, and defending Bivens and medical malpractice cases.
From 2006 to 2014, she was a litigation attorney at McCarter & English LLP, where she focused on business and financial litigation, intellectual property, trust and probate, and product liability cases.
She is a graduate of Yale University and the Georgetown University Law Center.
