LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions today announced the appointment of former Los Angeles federal prosecutor Uttam Dhillon to lead the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Dhillon replaces Robert Patterson, who retired after 30 years of service, and most recently served as deputy counsel and deputy assistant to President Donald Trump.
The Indian-American attorney has also held senior roles in the Legislative Branch, including chief oversight counsel for the House Financial Services Committee. Dhillon worked from 1990 to 1997 as a federal narcotics prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.
Sessions said he was pleased to appoint Dhillon as the DEA's acting administrator, calling him a ``dedicated public servant who has served with distinction in the White House, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, and as a career federal prosecutor taking on drug traffickers at the highest levels.''Both prior to and subsequent to his public service, Dhillon worked for several large law firms.
A graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, Dhillon also spent three years as director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement.