Hochman's win could cast a wider net on prosecutorial priorities

Voters choosing Nathan Hochman as the Los Angeles County District Attorney likely marks a significant shift in prosecutorial priorities and resource allocations at both the local and federal levels. Hochman--a former federal prosecutor--ran on a "hard middle" platform, which criticized the progressive prosecution philosophy of his opponent and predecessor, George Gascón. Hochman's "hard middle" approach is pragmatic; it focuses on making individualized decisions based on the crimes and the persons involved. If Hochman holds true to his campaign platform, reorganizing the priorities of the District Attorney's Office may free federal agencies and prosecutors in the region to focus on broader, more complex matters.

Understanding the prosecutorial process at the local and federal levels in the Central District

The L.A. District Attorney's Office is the "largest prosecutorial office in the United States," with nearly 1,000 attorneys available to prosecute serious crimes throughout the County. Given their local nature, they prosecute crimes under California law. On the other hand, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California--which is headquartered in Los Angeles County--represents not just L.A., but six additional Southern California counties: Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. The U.S. Attorney's Office is responsible for enforcing federal laws in a region with nearly 20 million people.

The U.S. Attorney's Office's Criminal Division includes multiple sections that specialize in various crimes including the Major Frauds Section, the International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section. In late 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office also launched a Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force to target corporate malfeasance, abuse by insiders, crimes impacting financial systems and trading markets, as well as violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Additionally, the U.S. Attorney's Office also has a number of strong partnerships with local and national law enforcement agencies, including with fellow Department of Justice (DOJ) components such as the Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Section within the Criminal Division and the Consumer Protection Branch within the Civil Division. More recently, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced a new whistleblower pilot program to increase prosecutions "undertaken by or through companies, exchanges, and other institutions." Press Release, United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, "United States Attorney Martin Estrada Announces Implementation of New Whistleblower Pilot Program to Facilitate Increased Prosecutions of High-Level Wrongdoers," August 23, 2024. With increased assistance at the local level, the U.S. Attorney's Office may very well reallocate its prosecutors and further its efforts to prosecute companies and their employees.

How local prosecutions may allow for reallocation of federal resources

Hochman's law-and-order agenda includes additional crime control in fentanyl cases and seeks longer prison terms in gang and gun cases. If he moves forward as planned, increased prosecutions at the local level may allow the U.S. Attorney's Office to increase its focus on major cases and corporate wrongdoing.

For instance, the County had a paltry record for handling the opioid crisis and fentanyl deaths from sales of illegal drugs in the nearly half-decade former D.A. Gascón was in charge. Indeed, the DA's office only recently announced its first murder prosecution related to a fentanyl overdose resulting from drug sales. By contrast, a survey of the U.S. Attorney's Office public press releases since Dec. 7, 2020--when Gascón took on the DA role--show at least 42 mentions of news involving fentanyl and death resulting cases prosecuted by the office. Of course, these public mentions only scratch the surface of the cases the U.S. Attorney's Office investigates as these cases are not always publicized on their website. While street-level cases should be prosecuted, they are resource intensive and ripe for prosecution by the DA's Office and its nearly 1,000 attorneys.

The U.S. Attorney's Office's focus, as it should be, is primarily on in-depth investigations and institutional wrongdoing. For example, the office very recently announced an indictment against a chemical company, its directors and senior employees, for alleged fentanyl manufacturing and distribution. Press Release, United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, "China-Based Chemical Company, Its Director and Senior Employees Indicted for Alleged Fentanyl Manufacturing and Distribution," November 7, 2024. Federal prosecutors also recently won a case where a jury convicted an L.A. Fashion District wholesaler and two executives of dozens of felonies related to running a scheme in which the company laundered narcotics proceeds and failed to report taxes. Press Release, United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, "L.A. Fashion District Wholesaler and Two of Its Executives Found Guilty of Money Laundering and Avoiding Tariffs and Taxes," October 30, 2024. Indeed, the U.S. Attorney made clear that "[m]oney laundering is the lifeblood of large-scale drug trafficking, and it is therefore essential that we go after businesses and individuals that feed criminal organizations." Id.

Given the complexity of federal investigations and prosecutions, these cases have been ongoing for years. But with Hochman vowing to take on the street-level distribution and gang activity, the U.S. Attorney's Office will have the attention and resources to open additional investigations, move more swiftly, work at a larger scale, and focus on the businesses (and their employees) that may be fervent ground for illicit activity.

Key takeaways

The Los Angeles DA's Office is changing; the newly elected DA has pledged to carry out a tough-on-crime platform. Time will tell if those promises will hold true, but if so, the U.S. Attorney's Office may increase its focus on investigating and prosecuting crimes involving companies and their insiders, particularly financial crimes and those impacting America's financial systems. Businesses and their top-level employees with ties to the Central District of California--which as mentioned above extends beyond Los Angeles--should be aware that the federal government may devote even more resources to these efforts.