Stephanie Van Marter to Serve as Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington

Spokane, Washington - On July 7, 2025, Stephanie Van Marter assumed the role of Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

Van Marter, who was born and raised in Spokane, is a distinguished graduate of Gonzaga Prep, Gonzaga University, and the Gonzaga School of Law, where she graduated with highest honors in 1999. She has been with the United States Attorney's Office for more than two decades and has served in numerous leadership positions over that time, most recently as Senior Litigation Counsel, Deputy Criminal Chief, and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force ("OCDETF") Coordinator. Working alongside federal, state and tribal agency partners, she has taken on hundreds of complex federal cases involving transnational drug trafficking, murder, weapons offenses, crimes against our tribal communities and members, and crimes against children. Van Marter has been nationally recognized for her successful prosecutions and leadership in targeting and holding accountable the most dangerous transnational drug traffickers and bringing them to justice for the harms they cause this community. Her teams have been responsible for taking enormous quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl off the streets of the communities in Eastern Washington.

Van Marter began her prosecutorial career as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Ada County, in Boise, Idaho. During law school, she began serving in the U.S. Attorney's Office as an intern and volunteered as a victim advocate at Lutheran Family Services in Spokane. While earning undergraduate degrees in criminal justice and psychology from Gonzaga, she worked at the Spokane Police Department, supporting community policing initiatives. Van Marter continues to be an active member of the Spokane community, serving as a board member of the Cancer Care Foundation with her father and sister, and as one of the founding board members for the Spokane Alliance for Fentanyl Education ("SAFE"), which recently received national recognition for its work educating the public on the dangers of illicit fentanyl. Skiers at Mount Spokane may also recognize Van Marter the ski patroller stabilized their injuries on the hill; she is a certified first responder and for 13 years was a member of the National Ski Patrol. She and her husband, who was also born and raised in the Spokane community, are the proud parents of four grown sons, each of whom has gone on to earn college or advanced degrees, two of which are also serving in the United States military. Van Marter intends to remain engaged in community service throughout her time at the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"Having grown up in this community and chosen it as the place to raise my own family, I am humbled and honored to serve as Acting United States Attorney," Van Marter said. "I have dedicated my career to this community and to developing and maintaining partnerships with all who serve in law enforcement. I have always been driven by a deep commitment to bring justice to those impacted by crime, to ensure that the voices of victims are heard, and to carry out the important law enforcement and prosecutorial missions of this District. I am proud to be a part of a team of dedicated professionals who work every day to protect our communities, and to work with our federal, state, tribal and community partners and to bring and defend cases that will continue to make our communities stronger and safer."

Van Marter's law enforcement colleagues have welcomed her into her new role as the chief law enforcement officer for the Eastern District, which spans all 20 counties east of the Cascade mountains in Washington. "Steph Van Marter has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to justice and public safety in all of her work, from transnational drug cases to complicated Indian Country matters," said Tom Atkinson, the Deputy Associate Director of the Division of Drug Enforcement for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Her strong support for the BIA and her unwavering collaboration with tribal, federal, and local partners continues to make a real impact in the communities that make up the Eastern District. We fully support her appointment as Acting U.S. Attorney and are confident she will continue to champion tribal sovereignty, safety, and justice for all."

Van Marter succeeds Richard R. Barker, who concludes his service as Acting U.S. Attorney but leaves the leadership of the U.S. Attorney's Office in experienced hands. "Through her years of service, Steph Van Marter has built outstanding relationships with law enforcement and community members and has brought unmatched dedication to the mission of this office," Barker said.

Van Marter looks forward to building on the legacy established by the United States Attorneys who have come before her. "This office has an incredibly rich tradition of outstanding leadership. From Jim Connelly, Jim McDevitt, Mike Ormsby, and Joseph Harrington, from whom I learned so much in the early part of my career, through the late Bill Hyslop, to Vanessa Waldref and Richard Barker, the U.S. Attorneys in this District have laid a strong foundation upon which I am eager to build. I am privileged to have been mentored by these incredible leaders and to have seen firsthand the vast talent of so many Assistant United States Attorneys who have worked and sacrificed for the good of this office and the people in this District. I am grateful for the high standards set by those who have come before me, and I am humbled to be able to follow their examples."

Van Marter also highlighted her excitement about continuing the great work done by her team at the U.S. Attorney's Office: "We will build on our already-strong and important relationships with law enforcement and community partners throughout this District. We will keep seeking justice by bringing a one team approach; to combine and expand our resources together so we can bring the most impactful cases that help our community to be safer. We will continue to stand for those impacted by crime. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to continue to strengthen Eastern Washington and secure justice for those who call this beautiful and special place home."