Gerard M. Karam, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, will resign from his position next month.
Karam announced his decision, effective Jan. 10, in a statement Thursday.
The West Scranton native was confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate and sworn into the office in June 2022. He was nominated by President Joe Biden, Sen. Bob Casey and then-Sen. Pat Toomey.
Born into law enforcement, his late father, Francis P. “Frank” Karam, spent 44 years with the Scranton Police Department, where he held every rank from patrolman to police chief.
He worked for more than 30 years as a defense attorney, 27 of which as a partner in the Scranton law firm of Mazzoni, Karam, Petorak and Valvano, focusing on complex criminal and civil litigation. Karam also spent 13 years with the Lackawanna County Public Defender’s Office, including a decade as chief public defender.
“As a son of a police officer, being appointed United States Attorney in my home district has been an honor of a lifetime. I am grateful to President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Senator Robert Casey and former Senator Patrick Toomey for the opportunity to serve as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Middle District of Pennsylvania,” Karam said in the statement. “I am equally thankful for the career attorneys, professional staff and the dedicated law enforcement officers who work honestly, diligently and with the utmost good faith to keep our citizens safe, apply the rule of law equally and to protect the civil rights of our citizens. It has been a true privilege to serve alongside these impressive and committed individuals. Together we have had many proud accomplishments.”
Karam’s office highlighted his achievements during his tenure in the statement. They included:
WORKING WITH federal, local and state partners to indict and convict numerous defendants for drug trafficking, drug delivery resulting in death, firearms offenses, sex trafficking and exploitation of minors and murder. They were part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. This included sentencing a man to three consecutive life sentences for the murder of three people, including a federal witness, and sentencing a man to 70 years for torture and illegally exporting weapon parts and related service to Iraq, the second time a United States citizen has been convicted on torture charges, according to Karam’s office.
FIGHTING FRAUD, waste and abuse in the health care industry civilly and criminally. This included holding a multihospital health system accountable for submitting claims to Medicare for annual wellness visit services that violated Medicare rules and regulations, resulting in the system paying nearly $12 million.
BATTLING THEFT and fraud, which included charging nine people from Lackawanna County for stealing millions of dollars in World Series rings, golf trophies, boxing belts, paintings, jewelry, antique coins and guns and more from 18 museums, halls of fame, estates, galleries and jewelry stores in Massachusetts, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. They included Factoryville native and baseball great Christy Mathewson’s jersey and two signed contracts from Keystone College, artwork by Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol from the Everhart Museum in Scranton and golfer Art Wall Jr.’s trophies, a Tiffany lamp, antique coins and jewelry from the Country Club at Scranton.
PROTECTING CIVIL rights through enforcement efforts, community outreach and a strong partnership with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
COLLECTING NEARLY $20 million in civil actions, hiring 15 assistant United States attorneys and creating the district’s first appellate and E-litigation units.
Karam is the top federal prosecutor for 33 counties in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania from the New York border in the north to the Maryland border in the south, serving more than 3.1 million people, according to his office. It has offices in Scranton, Harrisburg and Williamsport.
First Assistant United States Attorney John Gurganus will assume the position of Acting United States Attorney upon Karam’s departure. Gurganus is a veteran of the Justice Department who has held his position in the Middle District of Pennsylvania since 1989, based in Scranton.
President-elect Donald Trump will likely nominate Karam’s successor after he takes office on Jan. 20.