“Having been part of the office for most of my professional career, I know first-hand that it is made up of an exceptional group of dedicated and talented public servants,” said Deegan. “It’s both an honor and a privilege to be chosen to serve as the United States Attorney.”
As United States Attorney, Mr. Deegan is the top-ranking federal law enforcement official in the Northern District of Iowa. He oversees a staff of 46 employees, including 25 attorneys and 21 non-attorney support personnel. The office is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, firearms, and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.
Mr. Deegan’s career as a federal prosecutor began in 1998 when he joined the Northern District of Iowa’s Sioux City branch office as a Special Assistant United States Attorney employed through the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Mr. Deegan prosecuted methamphetamine manufacturers and traffickers as part of the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area’s methamphetamine initiative. In 1999, as an Assistant United States Attorney, he began prosecuting a full variety of federal criminal cases from narcotics and violent crime to complex fraud, child sexual exploitation, and business crimes. Mr. Deegan moved from Sioux City to the Cedar Rapids office in 2001.
From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Deegan served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Detroit where he prosecuted general criminal matters including alien smuggling, medical device smuggling, and financial fraud. He also successfully tried a Detroit police detective and his brother for bank robbery conspiracy.
After returning to Cedar Rapids in 2006, Mr. Deegan prosecuted the two largest financial fraud cases in the history of the district. These included a $215,000,000 fraud committed by the owner of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. He also co-led the investigation and prosecution of a large-scale criminal immigration enforcement action and the subsequent prosecution of several employer personnel for alien harboring and related offenses. In recent years, Mr. Deegan led the investigation and prosecution of federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and public corruption crimes related to the largest food-borne salmonella outbreak in the nation’s history.
From 2015 until his confirmation as United States Attorney, Mr. Deegan served as the Chief of the Criminal Division in the Northern District of Iowa.
Mr. Deegan has received several Department of Justice honors and awards for his work as a federal prosecutor, including the Executive Office for United States Attorney’s Director’s Award and a Special Commendation award from the Civil Division.
Mr. Deegan has taught Federal White Collar Crime as an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa Law School. He has also served as a regular trial advocacy instructor at the Department of Justice’s National Trial Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, and as a visiting trial advocacy instructor at the University of Notre Dame Law School. Mr. Deegan has served on multiple boards and service committees.
Mr. Deegan earned a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Middle East Studies from the University of Notre Dame in 1992 and received his law degree from Wayne State University Law School in 1995. Prior to joining the office, he clerked for United States District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff in the Eastern District of Michigan. He also practiced law in Chicago where he represented small businesses in labor and employment related litigation. He is a member of the State Bars of Iowa and Michigan and an inactive member of the State Bar of Illinois. He lives in Cedar Rapids with his wife and seven children.
