The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee has appointed Francis M. "Trey" Hamilton III as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
The appointment took effect on Monday and Chief Judge Travis R. McDonough administered the oath of office for Mr. Hamilton’s appointment prior to its effective date. Mr. Hamilton will serve in this capacity until the vacancy is filled by a Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed nominee.
Mr. Hamilton had been serving as Interim U.S. Attorney by appointment of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland following his service as the district’s Acting U.S. Attorney. A native of Nashville, Mr. Hamilton joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee as an assistant U.S. attorney in 2002. Since then, he has served in numerous leadership positions, including first assistant U.S. attorney, deputy criminal division chief, and senior litigation counsel.
Over his career, he has tried numerous complex prosecutions, including corporate fraud, health care fraud, mortgage fraud, government-contract fraud, drug-trafficking and criminal civil rights violations. As a supervisor, he has also overseen matters involving the office’s national security, public corruption, child exploitation and monetary recoveries criminal practice areas. In 2020, Mr. Hamilton was awarded the Attorney General’s Claudia J. Flynn Award for Professional Responsibility.
Mr. Hamilton earned his undergraduate degree from Rhodes College in Memphis, where he graduated magna cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va., where he graduated summa cum laude, was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served on the Washington & Lee Law Review. Following law school, he served as law clerk to Jerome Turner, United States district judge for the Western District of Tennessee.