Trini Ross replaced as US attorney for Western District of New York

Bennett Loudon//February 18, 2025//

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U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York Trini E. Ross has been replaced by Joel L. Violanti.

Violanti previously was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District.

“Good morning! Joel L. Violanti is now the acting United States Attorney for the Western District of New York,” Public Affairs Officer Barbara Burns wrote in an email sent to the news media just before 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Ross was appointed by President Joe Biden in October 2021. She is the first Black woman to hold the position in the Western District of New York, which includes 17 counties.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in this position as the top law enforcement officer in the Western District of New York, my home, where I was born and raised and have spent the majority of my life,” Ross said in an email.

“And serving in this particular office was also special because I started my career as a federal prosecutor here, in 1995,” she said.

Carla B. Freedman, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, has also stepped down.

Freedman, who was sworn in in October 2021, has been replaced by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Hanlon, who is now acting U.S. attorney.

It is not unusual for a newly elected president to replace at least some U.S. attorneys.