Amityville Memorial High School (AMHS) enjoyed a visit last month from an honored former resident. Raj Parekh was invited to meet with AMHS students to discuss his journey from Amityville to the nation’s capital and the events that led up to his appointment to the highly esteemed roles of Acting United States Attorney and First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (becoming the first and only person of color to attain either of those positions in the now 235-year history of the district).
Parekh is an Amityville alumnus who graduated as part of the class of ‘99. He was born and raised in New York, while his parents emigrated from India to the United States. Parekh’s mother held two jobs at one point to make ends meet and Parekh’s father worked in the textile sales industry before losing his eyesight. Their selfless dedication to their family inspired Parekh to always give back to his community and help others. Their hard work and perseverance also provided Parekh with opportunities that helped him climb the lucrative ladder of the professional world.
In his time at AMHS, Parekh was a member of The Amityville Echo (all the more reason to write for us), Key Club, and president of the Student Government (now Student Council), all of which inspired his career path. Outside of the classroom, Parekh volunteered to care for elderly patients at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Amityville, stocked shelves at the local CVS, and played the string bass and baseball.
After graduating near the top of his class at AMHS, Parekh attended college at The George Washington University, graduating in 2003 with a degree (with honors) in economics and international affairs. Parekh then earned his Juris Doctor (with honors) in 2006 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, along with a certificate in Business and Public Policy from The Wharton School.
Throughout his career, Parekh has been selected for several important positions. Some of these include serving as a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, assistant general counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency, senior attorney and counsel at IBM, and as a federal prosecutor (in multiple positions) for the U.S. Department of Justice.
In January 2021, Parekh was appointed as the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. As the district’s chief federal law enforcement official, he supervised the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest. Leading a staff of over 300 federal prosecutors, civil litigators, and support staff located in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk, and Newport News in a district that serves more than six million residents, Parekh’s duty would be as challenging as it is esteemed. In his current role, Parekh remains the highest-ranked career (non-political) federal law enforcement official and prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Following his presentation to AMHS students, the Amityville Broadcasting team requested an interview with Parekh, to which he humbly agreed. Sydni Blake and Ramisa Chowdrury (a fellow member of the ECHO) conducted a 50-minute interview consisting of questions about several aspects of Parekh’s upbringing in Amityville and his career in public service.
Among Parekh’s over 40 trials and countless other cases that he has worked on during his time in the public and private sectors, we touched back on the terrorism prosecutions that were discussed during his AMHS presentation. For example, in the U.S. v. Mohamad Khweis case, Parekh successfully prosecuted in 2017 the first individual to face a jury trial in the United States after having joined the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in ISIS territory. Parekh traveled with FBI agents to Iraq to help investigate the case. After the trial in which Parekh cross-examined the defendant, handled the direct examination of numerous witnesses, and delivered the closing argument, he received a Justice Department award for superior performance.
Parekh also helped lead the prosecution of ISIS “Beatles” Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, both of whom were convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia and sentenced to life imprisonment for their participation in a hostage-taking scheme involving the detention of 26 hostages from 12 countries that resulted in the deaths of American, British, and Japanese nationals in Syria.
During Parekh’s service as the Acting United States Attorney, Alexanda Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021 to all charges that were brought against him in the United States. Parekh delivered a powerful public statement following Kotey’s guilty plea in which he stated, in part: “The justice, fairness, and humanity that this defendant received in the United States stand in stark contrast to the cruelty, inhumanity, and indiscriminate violence touted by the terrorist organization he espoused…This case has always been focused on the victims and their families. Their resilience, courage, and perseverance have ensured that terror will never have the last word.”
In April 2022, following a multiweek trial in which Parekh delivered the closing argument and handled the direct examination of numerous witnesses, including some of the released hostage victims who traveled from other countries to testify, an ISIS cooperating witness, and law enforcement personnel from the FBI and the United Kingdom, the jury convicted El Shafee Elsheikh on all charged counts. The U.S. Department of Justice said that Elsheikh is the highest-ranking ISIS fighter to have ever faced a jury trial in the United States. Parekh and his colleagues received the 2023 Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for this case.
After the ISIS “Beatles” trial, Parekh completed another historic international terrorism prosecution. In November 2022, he successfully argued in court for the statutory maximum penalty to be imposed in the U.S. v. Allison Fluke-Ekren case. There, Parekh secured the conviction of a female ISIS battalion leader, which is the first prosecution of its kind. In a publicly filed sentencing memorandum, Parekh wrote that Fluke-Ekren “carved a path of terror, plunging her own children into unfathomable depths of cruelty…For at least eight years, Fluke-Ekren committed terrorist acts on behalf of three foreign terrorist organizations across war zones in Libya, Iraq, and Syria. She wanted to carry out mass casualty attacks in the United States. Fluke-Ekren ascended the ranks of ISIS by skillfully using manipulation and exploitation. She ultimately led an ISIS battalion and trained over 100 women and young girls in Syria, some as young as 10-years-old, on the use of AK-47 assault rifles, grenades, and suicide belts packed with explosives, during the terrorist organization’s murderous crusade.”
Regarding these experiences, Parekh shared how he and his colleagues had the immense honor of seeking justice for the victims. The fact that these perpetrators were brought to the Eastern District of Virginia to face charges for these heinous crimes after many years of evading justice overseas inspired them to spare no effort in bringing a measure of solace to the victim’s family members. The power of the law and the criminal justice system is at its full display in cases such as these. Parekh was deeply grateful for the opportunity to help honor the victims, ensure their families know that the U.S. Attorney’s Office stands with them, and that these atrocities will be met with fair, but swift justice in the United States.
Growing up in Amityville was instrumental in shaping Parekh’s life and career in public service. He was introduced to and raised in a field of diversity in this district on multiple levels (cultural, socioeconomic, etc.). Learning people’s stories and understanding the challenges we all face underscored for Parekh the value of empathy. One student’s life at home may be vastly different than another’s, but recognizing when someone needs assistance and helping them is what displayed a strong and caring community to Parekh— altruistic characteristics he remembers the class of ‘99 embodying. This is what helped him succeed in his career as well as in his ventures throughout life, as journeying the jungle of reality with a closed mind only invites misdirection. Through his increased involvement in and outside of the classroom, Parekh was able to overcome initial struggles that he faced in high school, becoming more determined thanks to the many opportunities that Amityville provided him, along with the support of his classmates.
For those applying and waiting for decisions from colleges, those trying to build their student profile, and those seeking guidance for navigating high school, Parekh offers great advice: ‘‘It’s not the number of clubs or extracurricular activities that you join, but what you do for those organizations that matter. It’s important to focus on the impact you can make by helping your school and community. Don’t forget about your roots and where you came from—remember to pay it forward and help the next generation of students.’’
