Chicago U.S. Attorney Fardon Resigns Days After AG Asks Obama Holdovers To Go

CHICAGO, IL — Zachary Fardon is out, stepping down from his post as Chicago’s U.S. attorney just days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked holdovers from the Obama administration to resign.

Fardon was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois by President Barack Obama in October 2013. He served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee since 2014.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago,” Fardon said in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “I want to thank all of the talented men and women of the Office for their hard work and dedicated public service during my term.”

During Fardon’s time in office, former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty to charges of lying to the FBI and evading currency reports. Fardon also “created a specialized unit within the Criminal Division to address violent crime, while increasing the Office’s prosecutions of illegal firearms to its highest level in more than a decade,” the office’s statement said. “His tenure was also distinguished by the creation of a new section to prosecute securities and commodities fraud, which resulted in a first-of-its-kind conviction for financial spoofing.”

Last week, Sessions asked 46 U.S. attorneys appointed during the Obama administration to resign.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Levin is replacing Fardon but only “on an acting basis,” the statement said.

Levin has been the first assistant U.S. attorney since 2014 and previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Wisconsin and California.

“In 1997 he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, where he was part of the trial team, along with Mr. Fardon, that successfully prosecuted former Illinois Governor George Ryan on corruption charges,” the statement said.

Zachary Fardon | image via U.S. Attorneys's Office