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By Tom Dresslar
Daily Journal Staff Writer
George L. O'Connell will resign May 1, paving the way for a Clinton administration appointee.
SACRAMENTO – George L. O'Connell, the U.S. attorney who has played a major role in the FBI "sting" probe of political corruption in the Capitol, announced Thursday he will resign effective May 1.
The action paves the way for President Clinton to name a replacement for O'Connell, who was appointed by former President George Bush in 1991 to head the 54-lawyer prosecutorial office that serves the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
O'Connell, 42, on June 1 will join the Sacramento firm of Downey, Brand, Seymour & Rohwer as a litigation partner specializing in business and civil fraud, white-collar crime defense, and regulatory and administrative advice. Under federal conflict-of-interest statutes, he cannot practice criminal law in the Eastern District for one year after he leaves office.
The 1976 graduate of Harvard Law School personally handled the successful sting prosecutions of former Democratic state Sen. Alan Robbins, former legislative aide Tyrone Netters and lobbyist Darryl Freeman.
His office secured corruption indictments of California Coastal commissioner Mark Nathanson, lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson and former state Sen. Paul Carpenter.
"I certainly have valued the opportunity to be U.S. attorney, particularly working on the public corruption cases," said O'Connell. "They have had an impact on the climate of government in Sacramento."
The office's handling of the sting cases has come under criticism for being politically biased. Critics note most of those convicted or indicted – including Robbins, Carpenter, Nathanson and former state Sen. Joseph Montoya – are Democrats. Two Republicans under investigation – Assemblyman Patrick Nolan of Glendale and Sen. Frank Hill of Whittier – have not been indicted.
O'Connell, who was in private practice in Los Angeles before he got into government work, has consistently rejected allegations the prosecutions have been politically partisan. And he did so again in a Thursday phone interview. "I categorically deny those charges," he said.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein will recommend a replacement for O'Connell to Clinton. Her state director, Kam Kuwata, recently reported about 12 lawyers have applied for the job. The only name confirmed so far by Kuwata has been Sacramento District Attorney Steve White.
But one well-placed source reported Thursday former Placer County Superior Court Judge Richard L. Gilbert and Sacramento attorney Charles Joseph Stevens have applied.
Gilbert served as Yolo County district attorney before being appointed to the Placer bench in 1982 by former Gov. Jerry Brown. He now works as an executive for a Sacramento firm that sells medical supplies and equipment to Russia.
Stevens, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, now is a partner in the Sacramento office of Los Angeles' Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
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