Interim U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid did some things that bothered people enough that they didn’t want to wait for her replacement. One thing involved a fundraiser. Another involved her attempt to merge the Organized Crime Strike Force into a larger unit. The result: Good bye Laurie Magid as U.S. Attorney.
By Emilie Lounsberry and Robert Moran
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writers
PHILADELPHIA — In an abrupt move, interim U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid was replaced yesterday with another interim chief prosecutor for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Magid, a Republican appointee of the second Bush administration, has been overseeing the office since the departure of U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan last summer.
Magid, her spokeswoman, and a Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington all declined to discuss the switch beyond what was stated in a news release issued late yesterday.
Magid will, however, remain in the office, in the appeals division.
Her replacement is Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy, who previously served as an interim U.S. attorney between April and September 2001, the early months of the Bush administration. He was most recently chief of the unit that prosecutes computer and intellectual-property crimes and child exploitation.
