Thomas C. Albus has been sworn in as the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. The ceremony was conducted by U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Friday at approximately 11:30 a.m. Albus was appointed to the position by Attorney General Pamela Bondi, taking over from former Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake, who will return to his previous role as First Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Albus brings significant experience to the office, having served as a prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2002 to 2019 where he handled white collar, tax, public corruption and other cases. In 2019, he became First Assistant to then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt after joining the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. He was later appointed as a St. Louis County Circuit Judge in 2020 by Missouri Governor Michael Parson.
A native of St. Louis County, Albus graduated from Georgetown University in 1994 and earned his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1997. His early legal career included clerkships with Lawrence G. Crahan on the Missouri Court of Appeals and Judge John C. Holstein on the Missouri Supreme Court, followed by work in litigation at what is now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in St. Louis.
The Eastern District of Missouri covers 49 counties and prosecutes federal crimes such as terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, firearms offenses and narcotics cases within its jurisdiction. The office also defends civil cases involving the United States and manages debt collection owed to the government.
According to recent data, this district leads all others nationwide in prosecuting gun crimes—including carjackings, armed robberies and murders—and ranks third nationally for prosecuting crimes against children.
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