Josh Herbert
CRMJ_1110
Kathy Steinbeck
Spring 2009
20FEB2009
An Interview with
David Sierleja,
First Assistant United States Attorney for
the Northern District of Ohio, Acting
Introduction
I would like to start by stating that this entire experience definitely places in the top ten experiences that I have had in my life to this point. From start to finish, I felt like a “little kid in a candy shop.” As soon as I stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor of the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Cleveland, I saw the gold trimmed American Flag perfectly placed next to the sign on the wall that said “Office of the United States Attorney, Northern District of Ohio, U.S. Department of Justice” and got chills in an amazing way. It was the same feeling that I got when I got married and when I raised my right hand and took the Oath of Enlistment in to the U.S. Army.
As soon as I walked into the reception area and stated my purpose, everyone was so happy to help. I first met with Mr. Steve Yelenic, Deputy Director. I had a brief discussion with Mr. Yelenic about the project as well as my career goals and what brought me to the U.S. Attorney’s Office instead of another law firm or prosecutor’s office. We also spoke about what area of the law interested me the most and what type of law I would most like to practice. When I revealed my fascination with criminal law, Mr. Yelenic smiled and said “I’ve got just the person for you to talk to.”
When I returned to the office about a week later, I was invited up to the Executive Offices on the eighth floor. When I sat down to wait, all of the “little kid in the candy shop” feelings came back. After a few moments, Mr. Sierleja came out to meet me and led me back to his office. Mr. David Sierleja is the Acting First Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Previous to that position he was the Chief of the Criminal Division. He has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for about nineteen...