U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary has named Shanelle Booker as the Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Criminal Division Chief for the Middle District of Georgia, making her the first woman to serve as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney and the first Black woman to hold both positions for the District.

Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Booker will supervise the Criminal, Civil and Administrative Divisions. In addition, she will serve as the Criminal Chief, replacing long-time Criminal Chief and federal prosecutor Michael Solis, who has accepted a position with the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) within the Department of Justice.

“Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Booker is a selfless and dedicated prosecutor, who has demonstrated great leadership and judgement throughout her career seeking justice on behalf of all people. It is my honor to name her to this new role within the Office, where she will undoubtedly continue her legacy of seeking equal justice under the law for our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “I also want to thank Michael Solis for 33 years of outstanding service to the Middle District of Georgia and wish him well on this new phase with the Department of Justice.”

Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Booker has served as a federal prosecutor with the Middle District of Georgia since 2015. During her tenure, she has prosecuted high-profile violent crime, child exploitation, sex trafficking, public corruption and fraud cases. She was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in 2020, and she also serves as the Office’s liaison for the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Task Force, a team that coordinates and enhances efforts to pursue criminal offenders who target and attempt to victimize senior citizens. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, she clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Brian S. Miller with the Eastern District of Arkansas and was the Managing Attorney and Assistant Public Defender with the Brunswick Judicial Circuit Defender’s Office in Brunswick, Georgia.

A resident of Macon, Georgia, Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Booker is active in the community with a special focus on volunteering with young people, including mentoring juvenile girls committed to the Macon Regional Youth Detention Center through the Girl Squad Mentoring Program and working with Just the Beginning Foundation to inspire law careers among underrepresented students. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and is a board member of the Central Georgia Empowerment Fund, a philanthropic fund that seeks to build capacity and financial sustainability of non-profit organizations that serve the African American community and address the most pressing needs facing African Americans in the Central Georgia region.

Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Booker is an adjunct professor at Mercer University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where she has taught criminal justice classes since 2020.

Acting First Assistant U.S. Attorney Booker received her Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, from Hampton University and her Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, Illinois.