From U.S. District Court:
U.S. DISTRICT COURT IN CHICAGO APPROVES THE APPOINTMENT OF ANDREW S. BOUTROS AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
CHICAGO — The U.S. District Court in Chicago has approved the appointment of Andrew S. Boutros as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
U.S. Attorney Boutros has been serving in the position of United States Attorney since April 7, 2025, pursuant to a 120-day appointment by Attorney General Pamela Bondi. The order to approve the appointment beyond Aug. 5, 2025, was entered on Thursday by U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall after the full Court met in executive session.
“I am deeply grateful that two branches of our government have agreed upon my appointment,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.
“President Donald J. Trump, acting through Attorney General Pamela Bondi, appointed me as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on April 7, 2025. Then the full U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois met in executive session on July 21, 2025, and, pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section 546(d), approved my appointment as U.S. Attorney effective Aug. 5, 2025.
“I am thankful to Chief Judge Kendall and the U.S. District Court judges of the Northern District of Illinois for their confidence in me. It is an honor of a lifetime to have the trust and support of both the Executive (Article II) and Judicial (Article III) branches of our constitutional government.
“As the son of Coptic Christian parents who immigrated from Egypt to this great land, it is incredibly special to be the first person of any color to assume the role of Chicago U.S. Attorney in the 170-year history of this extraordinary and esteemed Office. The strong support I’ve received from so many different communities has been heartwarming and profoundly touching. I am energized to tackle the enormous challenges that our district faces and to do so by calling balls and strikes in the proudest ways of this incredibly storied Office.
“I am grateful for the extraordinary talent, work ethic, and warm reception I have received from the Office and its exceptional attorneys and staff. I look forward to working with them for years to come, along with our various law enforcement partner agencies and leaders. The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has always been one of the crown jewels of the Department of Justice, and I intend to carry forward that tradition under my leadership.”
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 2008 to 2015, U.S. Attorney Boutros investigated and prosecuted hundreds of cases, many of which involved matters of national and international significance.
U.S. Attorney Boutros’s notable convictions included the world’s largest online drug trafficker on the dark web, one of the country’s “Top Ten Most Wanted” mortgage fraud defendants, and the owner of a Chicago hospital who thwarted collection of more than $188 million in civil judgments.
U.S. Attorney Boutros also successfully prosecuted a series of cases involving unprecedented criminal violations of international trade, customs, and anti-dumping laws, which have been described as the largest of their kind ever prosecuted in the country.
U.S. Attorney Boutros received numerous awards and accolades for his work as a federal prosecutor. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association selected him as the National Prosecutor of the Year, presenting him with the National Prosecutorial Award. The American Bar Association honored U.S. Attorney Boutros with the Criminal Justice Section’s Norm Maleng Minister of Justice Award for best exemplifying the prosecutor’s duty to seek justice. U.S. Attorney Boutros also received honors from the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
From 2015 until his appointment as United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney Boutros worked in private law practice in Chicago, holding various leadership roles. For 15 consecutive years, U.S. Attorney Boutros has taught an advanced criminal law course at the University of Chicago Law School. While practicing law full time, Mr. Boutros has also written and spoken extensively on criminal law and criminal law adjacent topics, including publishing two books, authoring nearly 160 articles and book chapters, and presenting at 90 speaking engagements.
U.S. Attorney Boutros earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Virginia Tech, and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He clerked for the Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
