Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

David A. Sierleja joined the United States Attorney’s Office in August 1990 as an Assistant United States Attorney. He served in the General Crimes Unit of the Criminal Division from 1990 to 1997, and in the Economic Crimes Unit from 1997 to 2003. In April 2003, he was promoted to Chief of the Criminal Division, where he supervised nine Supervisory Assistant United States Attorneys and approximately 65 Assistant United States Attorneys. Mr. Sierleja also supervised a support staff of approximately 45 in Cleveland and in the Toledo, Akron and Youngstown branch offices. Mr. Sierleja was detailed to Baghdad, Iraq, working with the Regime Crimes Liaison Office prosecuting Saddam Hussein and other high ranking members of the Hussein regime from July 2006 through January 2007.

In June 2008, Mr. Sierleja was named Acting First Assistant United States Attorney. In May 2010, he returned to the position of Chief of the Criminal Division. As Criminal Chief Sierleja led a team of investigators and prosecutors in the successful prosecution of Antun Lewis, a case involving an arson that resulted in the deaths of eight children and one adult. It remains Cleveland’s deadliest house fire. A year after the first four-week trial, which resulted in a guilty verdict, the trial judge ordered a new trial based only on his generalized disagreement with the first jury over the strength of the evidence. A second six-week trial followed with over 65 witnesses called to the stand, resulting in a second finding of guilt. The second guilty verdict finally brought closure for the victim families and the community at large.

In January 2016, Mr. Sierleja was once again named Acting First Assistant United States Attorney. In July 2016, he became the First Assistant United States Attorney. On March 11, 2017, Mr. Sierleja was named Acting United States Attorney.

Mr. Sierleja graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1975 with a B.A. in Business Administration and from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1981. In 2003, the Cleveland Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation honored Mr. Sierleja as Assistant United States Attorney of the year.

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