An attorney who has spent her career overseeing criminal prosecutions and investigations, including the one that led to the corruption conviction of a prominent state senator, has been tapped to oversee seven key bureaus in the attorney general’s office. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that effective Nov. 13, Kelly Donovan will take over as executive deputy attorney general for criminal justice, one of the top posts in the office. She will over-see more than 100 attorneys in criminal justice, public integrity, criminal prosecutions, taxpayer protection, auto insurance fraud and Medicaid fraud units as well as the Organized Crime Task Force.
Donovan, who was chief of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit before she was promoted by Schneiderman, was first deputy inspector general in the state Inspector General’s office from 2007 to 2010 and prior to that, served as deputy chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. In that capacity, she led the investigation that resulted in the conviction of Senator Guy Velella, a Bronx Republican who had served in the Legislature for more than 30 years. Velella was indicted on more than two dozen counts of bribery and conspiracy for steering public works contracts to contractors who paid him off. He pleaded guilty to one count in exchange for a year in jail and the surrender of his law license.
