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TRENTON - Acting Attorney
General Paula T. Dow swore in Stephen J. Taylor
as Director of the Division of Criminal Justice
late Friday at the Hughes Justice Complex.
Taylor, 49, was most recently
a partner in the law firm of Taylor, Colicchio
& Silverman, LLP, in Princeton. He previously
served 20 years as a prosecutor, first in
the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office,
then in the U. S. Attorney’s Office
for the District of New Jersey.
Gov. Chris Christie announced
Taylor’s appointment as Director of
the Division of Criminal Justice on Jan. 8.
“In his 20 years as
a prosecutor, Stephen Taylor has supervised
complex investigations and handled major prosecutions,
including cases involving narcotics, organized
crime, counterfeiting, espionage and terrorism,”
said Acting Attorney General Dow. “I
served with him in the U.S. Attorney’s
Office, where I developed a great respect
for his intellect, judgment and leadership.
Those attributes combined with his broad-based
experience as a prosecutor make him an exceptional
choice to lead the Division of Criminal Justice.”
“I am honored to have
been selected by Governor Christie to serve
with General Dow in this important position,”
said Taylor. “My goal in leading the
Division of Criminal Justice will be to effectively
utilize our excellent staff and our ability
to partner with law enforcement agencies across
all levels of government to achieve the maximum
impact in reducing crime and protecting the
people of New Jersey.”
Taylor served in the Essex
County Prosecutor’s Office for 12 years
beginning in 1986. He was assigned to the
Homicide Investigations Unit in 1990, and
from March 1995 through April 1998, served
as the Director of the Homicide Unit, supervising
approximately 20 investigators and three assistant
prosecutors.
In 1998, Taylor joined the U.S. Attorney’s
Office in Newark, where he prosecuted a variety
of cases, including Social Security fraud
cases, complex narcotic conspiracy cases involving
electronic surveillance, and racketeering
cases. He was later assigned to the Organized
Crime and Racketeering Section, where he oversaw
investigations and prosecutions of traditional
and non-traditional organized crime.
Among the notable cases he
supervised was a six-year undercover FBI investigation
dubbed “Royal Charm” that initially
targeted counterfeit cigarettes being smuggled
into the U.S. from China. The investigation
ultimately uncovered the illegal importation
of about $5 million in high-quality counterfeit
U.S. currency called “supernotes,”
the first time supernotes manufactured abroad
appeared in the United States. Fifty-seven
individuals were prosecuted.
In 2002, Taylor was appointed
Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement
Task Force in the U.S Attorney’s Office,
where he supervised 10 attorneys responsible
for prosecuting upper-echelon drug and money
laundering organizations. From April 2005
through July 2006, Taylor was Chief of the
Terrorism Unit and supervised the investigation
and prosecution of national security related
offenses, including terrorism related cases,
espionage cases and violations of the arms
export control laws.
Taylor was born in Yonkers, N.Y., and raised
in Edison, N.J. He obtained his undergraduate
degree in 1982 from the University of Delaware,
and his law degree in 1985 from Villanova
University School of Law. After law school,
he clerked for the Honorable Leonard D. Ronco,
New Jersey Superior Court Judge in Essex County.
Taylor lives in Somerset County
with his wife and two children.
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