April Perry nominated to be first woman as U.S. Attorney in Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- For the first time in Chicago history, a woman could soon serve as the city's top federal prosecutor, after President Joe Biden nominated April Perry as the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth recommended Perry and Sergio Acosta as finalists for the job in March, after former U.S. Attorney John Lausch stepped down to return to the private sector. Lausch's top aide, Morris "Sonny" Pasqual, has been serving as acting U.S. Attorney in Chicago since March.

Perry, currently senior counsel of global investigations and fraud and abuse prevention at GE Healthcare, is a former Cook County and federal prosecutor. She was an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago from 2004 to 2016. She also served as chief deputy state's attorney and chief ethics officer for Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx from 2016 to 2022.

She also served as law clerk for Judge Joel Flaum on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2004.

A Northwestern University alum, Perry held multiple leadership posts while serving as a federal prosecutor, including work with the civil rights and hate crimes division, and the narcotics and gangs section.

"We are pleased that President Biden is nominating April Perry to serve as the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.  She was highly regarded by our screening committee and brings strong qualifications and a wealth of experience from her time in the U.S. Attorney's office and in the private sector to the position.  We look forward to supporting her nomination in the Senate," Durbin and Duckworth said in a statement.

Durbin, who chairs the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, will now oversee the nomination process, and if her nomination is approved by the committee, it will be sent to the full Senate for a vote.

Meantime, Pasqual will continue to lead the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago.