Finalists chosen for U.S. attorney post

Two assistant U.S. attorneys and the chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole are finalists to head the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

A local committee has named Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, 38, of Fox Chapel; Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Cessar, 40, of Shaler; and William F. Ward, 49, of Mt. Lebanon, as finalists, sources say.

The new top federal prosecutor will replace Harry Litman, an appointee of Bill Clinton and a Democrat, who stepped aside April 27 to allow the new Republican administration to name the head of the district office.

The U.S. attorney supervises more than 40 attorneys in the Pittsburgh office.

After interviewing several candidates, the committee forwarded the names to Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Santorum of Penn Hills and Arlen Specter of Philadelphia.

The senators are expected to forward the names of at least two of the finalists to the White House in the coming days, sources say, and President Bush will make the appointment.

Buchanan joined the civil division in the Pittsburgh office in 1988, where she prosecuted a broad range of discrimination and fraud cases. Since 1992 she has worked in the criminal division, where she is assigned to the violent offender section.

She helped establish the Western Pennsylvania Crimes Against Children Task Force, which prosecutes cases involving the sexual exploitation of children.

Buchanan is originally from Washington County. She received a bachelor's degree from California University of Pennsylvania, Washington County, and a law degree in 1987 from the University of Pittsburgh.

She is married and has a daughter.

Cessar has been with the Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney's office since 1990. Before joining the Pittsburgh office he worked from 1986 to 1990 at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in Washington, D.C.

Cessar is assigned to the white-collar crimes section in the Pittsburgh office and has prosecuted several high-profile cases, including the scandal involving LMD Inc. and its president, Sharon L. Antonucci of Hampton.

Antonucci pleaded guilty last month to one count of mail fraud for overbilling the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority for sewer and catch-basin cleaning.

Cessar, a Republican, received a bachelor's degree from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Cumberland County, where he was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Academic All-American in cross-country running. He still runs about 60 miles per week.

He earned a law degree in 1986 from University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

Cessar is married and has three children.

Ward, a Republican, was appointed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to the parole board in February 1997. The board has 53 offices statewide with more than 1,000 employees. Ward's term is scheduled to run through 2003.

Ward served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Pittsburgh office from 1979 to 1986. He worked in the civil division for two years and in the criminal division for five. He headed the economic crime section when he left in 1986 to join the Downtown law firm, Meyer Unkovic & Scott.

In 1996, then Pennsylvania Attorney General Thomas Corbett named Ward his First Deputy Attorney General, a position he held until joining the parole board.

Ward earned a bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass. and, a law degree in 1977 from Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia.

Ward, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., is married and has two children.

Joseph D. Wilcox can be reached at jwilcox@tribweb.com or (412) 391-8793.