PROVIDENCE – Zachary A. Cunha, who has served as U.S. attorney for the Rhode Island district since December 2021, has immediately stepped down from that role at the request of President Donald J. Trump.
The office said Monday Cunha had intended to leave office at the end of this week, according to his resignation letter he submitted to Trump and the U.S. attorney general back on Feb. 7. However, Cunha received a directive from the president to resign immediately.
It's typical for incoming federal administrations to nominate new federal attorneys to serve in local districts. U.S. attorney's office spokesperson Jim Martin told Providence Business News on Tuesday that Sara M. Bloom, the first assistant U.S. attorney, will serve as the acting U.S. attorney for the local district.
White House officials did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from PBN as to when a new local U.S. attorney will be nominated and sworn in.
Cunha
became U.S. attorney just before Christmas in 2021 and served during Joe Biden’s presidency. After joining the local office in 2014, Cunha served as the affirmative civil enforcement coordinator, where he was responsible for cases in which the U.S. sought to vindicate governmental interest, combat fraud and recover funds under the Federal False Claims Act.
Cunha also was a federal prosecutor in New York and Massachusetts before coming to the Ocean State. In his time leading the local district office, Cunha led many cases holding business leaders and officials accountable for crimes against the public, particularly for fraud.
Among them was convicting Michael Brier, the former CEO of Recovery Connections Centers of America Inc.,
on federal health care fraud charges. He and an employee, Mi Ok Bruining, failed to provide patients with required treatment and counseling sessions while at the same time billing Medicare, Medicaid and other health care payors for 45-minute counseling sessions despite the sessions lasting much less than 45 minutes.
Brier
was sentenced to serve between six to 10 years in federal prison as part of a plea agreement.
Cunha also as U.S. attorney gained a conviction of Alfred Appiah, a former Ørsted A/S information technology specialist. Appiah in July 2024
plead guilty to three counts of wire fraud for using a company credit card for personal expenses and was sentenced to federal prison for seven months.
In December 2024, Cunha and the U.S. Department of Justice
reached a settlement with the state to resolve allegations the state unnecessarily and systematically segregated children with disabilities by keeping them hospitalized at Bradley Hospital.
“Over the three years that I have had the high privilege to serve as U.S. attorney, it has been my constant goal to make sure that the work of this district punched far above the weight that our compact geography and small staff might imply,” Cunha said in a statement. “By every measure, the men and women of this office have met that goal, again and again, across every category in which we prosecute and litigate on behalf of the people of the Ocean State.”
(UPDATED 3rd paragraph to note Sara M. Bloom will serve as acting U.S. attorney for the Rhode Island district, per U.S. attorney's office spokesperson Jim Martin.)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
