The VLW Blog

Federal authorities have accused an inmate in a Virginia federal prison of identity theft, possibly for the purpose of filing false claims for benefits intended for Holocaust victims and their descendants.

According to an indictment, John Kenneth Leighnor Jr., 49, used his time at the Federal Correctional Institute in Petersburg to carry out an elaborate ongoing identity theft scheme. The news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office provides details.

By Peter Vieth

John Brownlee, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, will step down in a month after seven years as the region’s top federal prosecutor. He confirmed today that he is considering a bid for the Republican nomination for Virginia Attorney General, but has not made any final determination.

Julie Dudley, now First Assistant U.S. Attorney, will serve as U.S. Attorney when Brownlee steps down on May 16.

Fairfax State Senator Ken Cuccinelli is the only announced candidate for the GOP Attorney General nomination. Brownlee joins a field of potential candidates that includes Mechanicsville State Senator Ryan McDougle and former Delegate Paul C. Harris.

Although no one here in the Old Dominion got the ax, the U.S. Attorney firings story now has a local angle: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales yesterday appointed Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, as his interim chief of staff, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Rosenberg, who has past experience in the Justice Department, replaces Kyle Sampson, who quit last Monday amid calls for Gonzales’ own resignation. A Republican source said that Rosenberg will stay on the job in Alexandria and the new position is only temporary.