Federal prosecutor dies at 57

SEATTLE – Francis Jerome Diskin, a longtime federal prosecutor who headed the government’s case against Algerian terrorist Ahmed Ressam, has died at age 57, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

He died Tuesday of complications following surgery at Harborview Medical Center to remove a brain tumor.

“Jerry served in the department with distinction for nearly 30 years,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday. “He will be sorely missed by all those who had the opportunity to work with him.”

Diskin, a native of Mineola, N.Y., graduated from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and obtained his law degree at Georgetown before joining the U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle in 1976. He went on to serve as chief of the criminal division, senior litigation counsel and supervisor of the drug unit.

He was the lead prosecutor in the trial of Ressam, who was arrested on the eve of the millennium as he tried to enter the United States through Port Angeles with a trunkload of explosives, intent on blowing up Los Angeles International Airport. Ressam was convicted in 2001 of explosives charges and conspiracy to commit international terrorism; he has since provided valuable information about terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and testimony against other suspected terrorists.

In April 2001, Ashcroft appointed Diskin as interim U.S. attorney, a post he held until October 2001, when the office’s current holder, John McKay, was selected.

“Jerry Diskin was a leader in our office for almost 30 years,” McKay said Wednesday. “He was a well-respected prosecutor who handled a number of our most difficult and important cases. We lost a great prosecutor, patriot and friend.”

Colleagues on Wednesday recalled him as a witty, big-hearted man who loved his job, his family and baseball. He often sprinkled his arguments in court with metaphors from the sport, and he spent his free time umpiring youth baseball or coaching and cheering at his children’s games. “Whenever I went to baseball games with him, he’d critique the umpires – as many fans do, but he had the understanding of the game to do it more effectively,” said Bob Westinghouse, who worked alongside Diskin for his entire career as a federal prosecutor.

Diskin did much of his work on drug cases, because he believed in combating the spread of drugs and believed he could make a difference there, Westinghouse said.

Ron Friedman, an assistant U.S. attorney, said Diskin went to see a doctor about eight months ago for a headache that wouldn’t go away. It turned out to be a tumor.

An initial surgery failed to remove all of it. He continued to work and attend ball games until shortly before his second surgery, which was performed about eight days before his death, Friedman said.

Diskin is survived by his wife, Michelle, and children Jerome Jr., Aimee, Evan, Claire and Elise. No services have been scheduled.