April Perry could become the first woman to serve as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor after President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his plan to nominate her as the city’s next U.S. attorney.
Currently serving in a senior counsel role at GE HealthCare, Perry worked as a federal prosecutor in Chicago from 2004 until 2016. Her former colleagues from that office praised her Wednesday as a “seasoned prosecutor,” an “exceptional trial lawyer,” and one with a particular interest in prosecuting the sexual exploitation of children.
“She is a strong and passionate advocate for victims of sex crimes,” Nancy DePodesta, now a partner at Saul Ewing LLP, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Biden’s nomination of Perry reflects an ongoing effort by the president and Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin to diversify the ranks of the nation’s federal judges and prosecutors. But there have been calls for a female U.S. attorney in Chicago for years. And they only grew stronger when news broke in January that then-U.S. Attorney John Lausch would be leaving the key post.
Durbin and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., sent the Biden White House two recommendations for the spot in March, Perry and Sergio Acosta, who both got high marks from the screening committee they established.
If confirmed by the Senate, Perry will inherit an office of about 300 employees based in Chicago and Rockford. Several criminal trials have commenced this year as the federal court continues to catch up after the COVID-19 pandemic, and more are set to come.
Six people have been convicted at trial this year as a result of the feds’ public corruption investigations. And another jury is currently deliberating a racketeering conspiracy case involving a South Side street gang — the second such case to be considered by jurors in seven months.
Perry could not be reached for comment Wednesday. She serves as senior counsel, global investigations and fraud and abuse prevention, at GE HealthCare. She also served as general counsel for Ubiety Technologies from 2019 until 2022.
Before that, she served from 2017 until 2019 as chief ethics officer for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Perry’s tenure there ended amid the scandal that involved the prosecution of actor Jussie Smollett.
Perry announced in a February 2019 memo that Foxx would be recusing herself from decision-making in the Smollett case. Perry has previously said she advised Foxx to seek to have her top deputy, Joe Magats, appointed as a special assistant state’s attorney in the case. She said Foxx declined to follow her advice. Perry then resigned from the office in May 2019.
Perry joined Foxx’s office after 12 years as a federal prosecutor, where she served as supervisory litigation counsel and coordinator for civil rights and hate crimes as well as for Project Safe Childhood.
The most well-known case she participated in was likely the 2010 trial of Jon Burge, the former Chicago police commander notoriously tied to allegations of torture and wrongful convictions who died in 2018. Perry delivered the final argument in his trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, insisting “there absolutely was a code of silence.”
“It is time that somebody do something,” Perry told the jury. “You have seen the evil. You have heard the evil. And now we ask that you speak the truth.”
Still, Perry’s former colleagues mostly pointed to her work on child exploitation cases. They made particular note of the case of Donald McGuire, a former Catholic priest who claimed to be a spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa and who was convicted in 2008 of molesting a child.
During closing arguments in that trial, Perry likened McGuire to “the story of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, about a predator who disguises himself in order to get close to his prey.”
“April [Perry] was absolutely terrific,” said Julie Porter, who prosecuted the case with Perry when they both served as federal prosecutors. Now, Porter is founding partner at Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter.
Megan Church, who also served as a federal prosecutor and attended law school with Perry at Northwestern University, added that “those are very tough cases, not only to handle as a prosecutor, but also to supervise and to teach prosecutors. … [Perry] did a great job with that.”
Church is now a partner at MoloLamken LLP.
While DePodesta said “it’s fantastic” that a woman could finally become U.S. attorney in Chicago, she stressed that Perry is also “so exceptionally qualified for the position.”
Crucially, Porter called Perry “somebody who has a deep appreciation for the significant responsibility that prosecutors have.”
“Indicting people with crimes is extraordinary,” Porter said. “Meaning, it’s an extraordinarily serious step that has great consequences. Everybody who serves in that role needs to care deeply about getting it right and about trying their very best. Not just to win, but to do justice. And April has always been a great role model on those issues and others.”
