PROVIDENCE – Zachary A. Cunha, who has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island since 2014, will soon officially lead that very office.
Cunha’s nomination to become the new local U.S. attorney for the Ocean State was approved in a voice vote by the U.S. Senate late Tuesday evening, U.S. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., announced.
According to Reed and Whitehouse, Cunha was recommended by President Joe Biden to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the advice of Reed and Whitehouse in September. The committee, the senators said, approved the nomination in November.
Cunha will assume the role as the state’s top federal prosecutor currently being held by acting U.S. Attorney Richard B. Myrus, who took over temporarily after Aaron L. Weisman resigned in February. U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson James Rosenberg told Providence Business News Wednesday that Myrus did not express an interest in being appointed U.S. attorney on a permanent basis.
Cunha has been a federal prosecutor since 2005. 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.
In 2018, Cunha became the office’s civil division chief, a role he’s held until now being named – and soon to be sworn in as – the U.S. attorney for Rhode Island. Cunha also was a federal prosecutor in New York and Massachusetts before coming to the Ocean State.
“Mr. Cunha already has an exemplary record of service in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He steps into this new, elevated role ready to serve and protect the people of Rhode Island with integrity and distinction,” Reed and Whitehouse said in a joint statement.
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 Twitter at @James_Bessette.
