The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria has added a new prosecutor to its major crime units to help fight street gangs.
Zachary Terwilliger was educated in Virginia, receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the William & Mary School of Law, from which he graduated among the top 10 in his class. Since fall 2008, he has been working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria through a partnership with the Virginia Attorney General’s Office. Neil H. MacBride, the U.S. attorney for the Alexandria-based Eastern District of Virginia, said Terwilliger was an integral member of the Alexandria Division’s Project Safe Neighborhood, a program that focuses on removing the most violent criminals from the community.
“Nearly one-third of Virginians live in this region, so it’s a challenge to keep everyone safe,” MacBride said. “We’ve had success in keeping the crime rate down by taking guns and violent criminals — especially gang members — off our streets. Zach has already had a great impact on that effort, and we’re glad he is now a permanent member of our violent-crime team.”
Gangs in Northern Virginia have been on the run in recent years, as law enforcement officials have joined together to fight the scourge, authorities say. In counties like Fairfax, where gang violence was leaving a bloody trail five years, ago, violent crime has dropped by 12 percent over the past three years.
Since 2005, federal prosecutors in Alexandria have convicted 26 MS-13 members of murder and murder-related charges.
Before returning to Virginia as a prosecutor, Terwilliger was a clerk for U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida. Before obtaining his law degree, Terwilliger was part of the Department of Justice’s Outstanding Scholar Program, where he worked in the antitrust division as an honors paralegal.
