Alexander Acosta speaks to the media at the Florida Federal Justice building on June 23, 2006 in Miami, Florida. (Getty)
R. Alexander Acosta, Donald Trump’s choice for Labor Secretary, is a former U.S. Attorney in a high profile South Florida district.
As a result, he had the chance as a prosecutor to spearhead some major cases with big names, including disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Acosta was “the longest serving U.S. Attorney in the District since the 1970s” and also served as an Assistant Attorney General, according to his university bio.
Trump chose Acosta – who, as a Cuban-American, is his first Latino cabinet pick – as Labor Secretary after his first choice withdrew his name.
Here’s what you need to know:
Jack Abramoff
US-Congress-politics
Former US lobbyist Jack Abramoff is pictured in Washington, DC on May 16, 2012.(Getty)
Acosta prosecuted connected GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff for fraud.
According to The Washington Post, Abramoff and a business partner were “charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy in their purchase of a fleet of Florida gambling boats from a businessman who was later killed in a gangland-style hit.”
Acosta accused them of passing on a “counterfeit” wire transfer of $23 million, “the equity they had agreed to put into the $147.5 million purchase of SunCruz” casinos, The Post reported.
A well-connected Washington lobbyist, Abramoff eventually pleaded guilty to “a three-count information charging him with conspiracy, aiding and abetting honest services mail fraud, and tax evasion,” according to the Department of Justice.
Jose Padilla
Al-Qaida terrorism plotter Jose #Padilla gets harsher sentence
http://t.co/d9CRXg0r54 http://t.co/J3fcs9G4dB
Acosta also successfully prosecuted accused terrorist Jose Padilla. According to the DOJ, a federal Judge sentenced Jose Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi “on charges of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim individuals in a foreign country, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists.”
The Justice Department news release said the men were found guilty by a jury of “being part of a North American support cell designed to send money, physical assets, and mujahideen recruits to overseas jihad conflicts. The cell operated from many cities in the United States and Canada, and supported and coordinated with other support networks and mujahideen groups waging violent jihad.”
The release added: “The jury found that Padilla traveled overseas to receive violent jihad training and to fight violent jihad, which would include acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming, from October 1993 to November 2001. On July 24, 2000, Padilla filled out a ‘Mujahideen Data Form’ in preparation for violent jihad training in Afghanistan.”
Charles “Chuckie” Taylor Jr.
Taylor is the son of the Liberian president. He was convicted of “torture, firearms and conspiracy charges” after being prosecuted by Acosta, according to USA Today. He is also known as Charles McArthur Emmanuel.
The newspaper reported that prosecutors said “Emmanuel was involved in killings and torture as head of an elite antiterrorist unit in his father’s government also known as the ‘Demon Forces.’ From 1999 to 2002, Emmanuel’s job was to use his paramilitary soldiers to silence opposition to Taylor and train soldiers for conflict in neighboring African countries.”
USA Today quoted Acosta, then Miami U.S. attorney as saying the case would “serve as a model for future prosecutors involving foreign torture allegations.”
Cali Cartel founders Miguel and Gilberto Rodriquez-Orejuela
Alexander Acosta speaks to the media on February 27, 2007. (Getty)
As Miami U.S. Attorney, it’s perhaps inevitable that Acosta would be involved in major drug cases.
Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela were “brothers who ran the infamous Cali Cartel in Colombia that was responsible for importing tons of cocaine into the United States over the last two decades,” Justice said in a news release.
They pleaded guilty “to a charge of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering by hiding the proceeds of narcotics trafficking,” the release said.
Then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, “These guilty pleas deal a final and fatal blow to the Cali Cartel, a violent drug trafficking organization that once operated outside of the law.” As with the other cases, many other people were also involved in the prosecutions.