U.S. Department
of Justice
Leadership
David L. Jaffe, Chief
David L. Jaffe was appointed Principal Deputy Chief of VCRS in June of 2011, having previously served as Acting Principal Deputy Chief for Litigation. He served as Deputy Chief of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions from 2008 to 2010. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Gang Unit from 2006 to 2008. Mr. Jaffe came to the Justice Department from the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where he worked as an Assistant United States Attorney from 2002 to 2006 in the general crimes and violent crimes units. From 2000 to 2002, he served as the general counsel for the Criminal Justice Coordinator for Mayor Rudolph Guiliani in New York City. From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Jaffe worked as an Assistant District Attorney in New York County. He began in legal career in 1993, where he clerked for the Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
In his career, Mr. Jaffe has prosecuted numerous complex violent crime, narcotics, white collar and RICO cases.
Kim Dammers, Principal Deputy
Kim Dammers is Deputy Chief of Litigation for VCRS. She had been an AUSA in the Northern District of Georgia for over ten years, serving as Deputy Chief of Major Crimes and Anti-Gang Coordinator. Her practice concentrated on prosecuting major crimes, especially violent gang-related offenses. As an AUSA, Kim has prosecuted gangs using RICO, VCRS., firearm and other laws. She has had several lengthy RICO trials against gang members that committed numerous murders.
Kim also lead her Office's Violent Repeat Offenders Initiative, which focused federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most violent criminals.
Kim graduated summa cum laude with a JD from Georgia State University, and obtained an undergraduate degree in microbiology from Cornell University.
Elizabeth Yang, Deputy Chief
Elizabeth R. Yang is a Deputy Chief for Litigation and has been with VCRS since 2018. Liz came to the Justice Department from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, where she worked as an AUSA for approximately 17 years, serving as a Deputy Chief and then Chief of the Violent & Organized Crime Section. She has prosecuted a wide range of crimes, including organized crime and gang offenses, child exploitation/cybercrimes, murders and murder-for- hires, armed robberies, drug trafficking, human trafficking, fraud offenses, national security matters, and threat offenses, at both the trial and appellate court levels. Before that, she clerked for the Honorable Robert R. Merhige, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Kelly Pearson, Deputy Chief
Kelly Pearson is a Deputy Chief for Litigation and has been with VCRS since 2012. Kelly came to the Justice Department from the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC), where she served as a Special Assistant to Commissioner Anne Northrup. Prior to the CPSC, Kelly was an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Fairfax County, Virginia. Throughout her career, she has prosecuted a wide range of crimes including organized crime and gang offenses, murders, manslaughters, maimings, child and adult sexual offenses, child exploitation, cybercrimes, robberies, drug trafficking, and sophisticated white collar offenses. Before the commencement of her government service, Kelly was an attorney representing general aviation and commercial pilots.
Gerald A. Toner, Assistant Chief for Labor-Management Racketeering
Gerald Toner was appointed Assistant Chief for Labor-Management Racketeering in 2011. He previously served as Assistant Chief for Labor-Management Racketeering in VCRS.' predecessor, the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section (OCRS), which he joined in 1979. Jerry is admitted to practice in New York State and graduated cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School in 1972 when he joined the Criminal Division as part of the Honors Graduate Program.