SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – An acting United States Attorney for the District of Utah has been appointed after the former resigned.
Utah’s John Huber, the nation’s longest-serving U.S. Attorney resigned under the instruction of President Joe Biden. Read his resignation letter here.
Now, officials say Andrea T. Martinez has been appointed by virtue of the Vacancies Reform Act. She is the third woman to serve as the Acting U.S. Attorney in the District of Utah and the first Latina to hold the position.
Martinez will serve as the District’s chief federal law enforcement official until a successor is nominated by Pres. Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
A Friday release says Martinez is a career prosecutor who has dedicated her professional life to public service, serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for more than a decade.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Martinez has been involved in a full spectrum of violent crime prosecution, including drug trafficking, federal firearm, and child exploitation cases, according to the release.
She has held numerous leadership positions within the office, including First Assistant United States Attorney, Violent Crime Deputy Section Chief, Senior Litigation Counsel, Violence Against Women Act Coordinator, District Diversity Chairperson, and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator.
The Department of Justice says Martinez began her career in the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office where she prosecuted felony narcotic, aggravated assault, special victim, and homicide cases.
Martinez graduated from the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2001 after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a double major, from the University of Utah in 1998.
