2002 Emerging Leaders
Finalist

Carolyn Miller

Her deftness as an attorney has resulted in numerous convictions and the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars later reimbursed to victims of criminal schemes.

Unflinching tenacity has propelled Carolyn Miller to the forefront of combating fraud for the United States Attorney’s Office. Versatility in legal affairs has led to her involvement in a diverse range of cases during her four-year civil service career.

Miller is committed to protecting justice. She litigates many of the most complicated criminal and civil forfeiture cases in her district, covering a broad spectrum of criminal activities such as narcotics trafficking, money laundering and health care fraud violations. Her deftness as an attorney has resulted in many convictions and the forfeiture of tens of millions of dollars.

Notably, Miller and her co-counsel tried United States v. Carlos Sanchez, which resulted in a conviction for bank fraud and false statements to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regarding mortgages issued and insured by that agency. As a result of Miller’s outstanding work, HUD will be able to distribute the forfeited monies to those individuals truly in need of federal housing assistance.

Another criminal prosecution, United States v. Laano, resulted in a guilty plea to health care fraud and a forfeiture of $825,000. These funds will be used to reimburse the victims of the criminal scams: one of the most important objectives of the federal forfeiture program.

In these cases, Miller’s unwavering dedication has allowed victims of numerous criminal schemes to recover their losses.

Miller has forged tremendous working relationships with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies comprising two separate task forces: the New York Asset Forfeiture Task Force (the “NYAFT”) and HUD’s Housing Fraud Initiative Task Force (the “HFITF”). Through her creative and outstanding work with the NYATF, she has ensured the dismantling of national and international criminal organizations and the forfeiture of their financial infrastructure.

Her superb legal and interpersonal skills, dedication to her cases, and commitment to the investigative agents have promoted one of the most important objectives of the Department of Justice: close and cooperative working relationships between federal, state and local law enforcement officers.

Despite the arduous and time-consuming process of reviewing and analyzing documentation to build cases, Miller is also actively engaged in mentoring the less experienced younger members of the US Attorney’s office, and she teaches legal research and writing at Brooklyn Law School.

This unique combination of ability and engagement has led to the highest compliments from her co-workers. Her supervisor sums up the effusive praise by saying that Miller “exemplifies what it means to be a truly dedicated and accomplished public servant. She brings to public service enthusiasm, commitment, dedication, consistently high quality work, and an unstinting desire to do justice.”