Top Federal Prosecutor Nominated Miami Lawyer Tapped to Be U. S. Attorney

Miami lawyer Roberto Martinez was nominated on Monday by President Bush to become U.S. attorney for South Florida.

The 38-year-old former prosecutor, who fled Cuba at age 7, could begin serving as the region’s top federal prosecutor as early as today under a special appointment by the district’s judges.

The judges were expected to vote today or Wednesday to designate Martinez acting U.S. attorney pending confirmation by the Senate.

Martinez’s jurisdiction would extend from Fort Pierce to Key West.

The 120-day term of interim U.S. Attorney James McAdams was to expire today. McAdams has served as interim U.S. attorney since the resignation of Dexter Lehtinen in January.

Despite four years as acting U.S. attorney, Lehtinen was unable to win confirmation by the Senate. He was dogged by allegations of domestic violence and reports about his fiery temper and controversial management style. Last year, he was criticized for publicly clearing Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro of wrongdoing before the conclusion of an investigation into corruption in the Sheriff’s Office.

Martinez was recruited as a prosecutor in 1982 by then-U.S. Attorney Stanley Marcus. During his five-year tenure with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he helped draft the first indictment naming all of the top leaders of Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel in 1986 and helped convict Hialeah council member Sebastian Dorrego on corruption charges in 1987.

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1987, Martinez went to work in private practice as a partner with the firm Zuckerman, Spaeder, Taylor and Evans in Miami.

He became active in Dade County’s Republican Party and was an alternate executive committee member and one of three co-general counsels in 1990 and 1991.

Martinez attended the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University Law Center. He married Dr. Suzel Vazquez on Feb. 22.