Meeting Speaker for Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Benjamin B. Wagner was appointed by President Barack Obama on November 6, 2009 to serve as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California.   He has focused on prosecuting violent crimes, mortgage fraud and other financial crimes, and on expanding civil rights enforcement in the Eastern District.  He served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee from 2010 to 2013, and currently serves on AGAC subcommittees relating to civil rights, white collar crime, and office management and budget.   He serves as the co-chair of the national Mortgage Fraud Working Group of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

Prior to being appointed U.S. Attorney,  Mr. Wagner served in the office for over 17 years, prosecuting a wide range of federal crimes.  He was the Chief of the Special Prosecutions Unit for nine years, and has also served as the Hate Crimes Coordinator and the district’s Anti-Terrorism Coordinator.   From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Wagner was stationed in Indonesia as the U.S. Department of Justice’s Resident Legal Advisor.  Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Wagner spent five years as an associate at the New York City law firm of Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, working on civil litigation and corporate finance matters.   He graduated from NYU School of Law in 1986 and from Dartmouth College in 1982.

Mr. Wagner lives in Sacramento with his wife of 26 years and their three children.   His wife is an attorney with a California state agency.