Meet the U.S. Attorney

Jessica D. Aber is the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA).

As U.S. Attorney, Ms. Aber supervises the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest. She leads a staff of approximately 300 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel across four Divisions located in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News. The district serves over six million residents.

U.S. Attorney Aber was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on August 10, 2021 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on October 5, 2021 for the position of United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. President Biden signed Ms. Aber’s commission on October 7, 2021.

Ms. Aber began her service to EDVA in 2009 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, taking on a variety of financial fraud, public corruption, violent crime, and child exploitation cases. From 2015 to 2016, she served on a detail assignment as counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. Since 2016, Ms. Aber has served as the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for EDVA.

Ms. Aber received the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service from the Department of Justice in 2019.

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Ms. Aber was an associate at McGuireWoods LLP from 2007 to 2008. She served as a law clerk for then-Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia from 2006 to 2007.

Ms. Aber received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School in 2006 and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Richmond in 2003.