By Steve Neavling
The FBI’s New Orleans and Honolulu Field Offices have new leaders.
FBI Director Christopher Wray appointed Steven B. Merrill to serve as special agent in charge of the Honolulu Field Office. He most recently served as the financial crimes section chief in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters.
Wray also named Douglas A. Williams Jr. as the special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Office. Williams had been serving as a section chief in the Office of Congressional Affairs at FBI headquarters.
In 1991, Merrill joined the FBI as a forensic scientist. He became a special agent in 1994, working in the San Francisco Field Office, where he investigated Unabomber Ted Kacyznski.
Since then, Merrill served in a variety of positions. As an assistant legal attaché, he was the first FBI agent to respond to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. In 2017, he was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Boston Field Office.
Williams became a special agent in 2002, first working in the Miami Field Office investigating drug trafficking, violent crime and organized crime.
He received numerous promotions throughout his career. In 2016, Williams was named assistant special agent in charge of the Houston Field Office.
