Chadwick Elgersma, a former FBI Special Agent and a longtime federal prosecutor, has been appointed as the Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Elgersma’s appointment was announced in a July 1 statement by the U.S. Department of Justice. He replaces Timothy M. O’Shea, who retired last month after 34 years of service with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
More: Milwaukee’s U.S. Attorney is out amid Trump’s effort to ‘clean house’ at Justice Department
In a statement, Elgersma said he was grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Wisconsin in this role.
“For however long I serve as United States Attorney, my primary objective will be to keep Wisconsin residents safe through the vigorous enforcement of Federal law,” he said.
Elgersma’s appointment comes as Donald Trump enters the seventh month of his presidency. It is customary for U.S. attorneys to be replaced when a new party takes over the White House.
As part of that transition, Gregory Haanstad was removed in February as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which includes Milwaukee County. That office is being run by Acting U.S. Attorney Richard G. Frohling.
It’s unclear when a permanent replacement would be named for the Eastern District.
Raised in Waupun, Elgersma graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. He earned his Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 2005 and joined the FBI a year later as a Special Agent.
In 2017, he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin and was sworn in as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2019.
More: Milwaukee’s U.S. Attorney is out amid Trump’s effort to ‘clean house’ at Justice Department
While working as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he prosecuted a wide range of criminal matters, including interstate drug conspiracies, firearms offenses, Hobbs Act robberies, child exploitation cases, government program fraud and immigration-related offenses.
As U.S. Attorney, it will be Elgersma’s responsibility to oversee federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving Wisconsin’s Western District, which includes Dane County and 43 other Western counties in the state.
“Under my leadership, the United States Attorney’s Office will do its part to protect national security and to stem the unlawful flow of people and drugs into our country,” Elgersma added. “We will also not lose sight of our responsibility to combat financial and violent crime, gang activity, child predators, and to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States’ civil interests.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chadwick Elgersma is the new U.S. Attorney for Wisconsin’s Western District