Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace to Resign Ahead of Trump’s Presidency

• Biden appointee is leaving Jan. 10, before Trump takes office
• Peace cases included Adani, Goldman banker, oil trader Gunvor

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced he will step down from his role on January 10, ending a noteworthy tenure as a federal prosecutor that included several high-profile cases. These ranged from singer R. Kelly’s sex-trafficking trial to the fraud indictment of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and the criminal conviction of a U.S. congressman.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Peace, a 53-year-old Brooklyn native, described his role as “the honor of a lifetime.” Following his departure, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny will take over as the head of the Eastern District of New York.

Appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021, Peace’s resignation comes shortly before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office on January 20.

During his time in office, Peace led significant prosecutions. In August, former U.S. Representative George Santos pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds. In October, Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former top public security official, was sentenced to over 38 years in prison for providing protection to “El Chapo” and the Sinaloa drug cartel. Additionally, R. Kelly, the renowned R&B singer, received a 30-year prison sentence in 2022 for sex trafficking.

The Eastern District also pursued major foreign bribery and corruption cases under Peace’s leadership. These included the 2022 conviction of ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng for his involvement in the looting of Malaysia’s 1MDB fund, the August conviction of Mozambique’s former finance minister Manuel Chang for his role in a $2 billion fraud scheme, and the February conviction of former Vitol Group oil trader Javier Aguilar for bribing officials in Mexico and Ecuador.

Peace’s office also secured hefty financial penalties from corporations involved in illegal activities. In March, European oil trader Gunvor Group Ltd. paid over $660 million to resolve U.S. and Swiss bribery charges involving Ecuadorian officials—one of the largest penalties ever for a commodity trading firm. In October, RTX Corp. settled a U.S. criminal probe into illegal arms exports for at least $300 million. In 2023, UBS Group AG paid $1.44 billion to resolve charges related to U.S. mortgage-backed securities, closing one of the bank’s largest legal cases as it integrated Credit Suisse.

In November, Peace’s office indicted Adani Group head Gautam Adani for allegedly defrauding U.S. investors by concealing a bribery scheme to secure Indian government contracts. Adani has stated he is working through the legal process to reaffirm his company’s commitment to regulatory compliance.

Breon Peace’s career also includes notable achievements outside the prosecutor’s office. After initially serving as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn from 2000 to 2002, he taught as an acting professor at New York University School of Law before returning to private practice. At Cleary Gottlieb, he specialized in white-collar criminal defense and, in 2007, became the firm’s first African American male partner.

Peace’s leadership leaves behind a legacy of accountability, justice, and substantial legal victories in both domestic and international arenas.

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