A federal judge has ruled that First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli has been "unlawfully" serving as Los Angeles' top federal prosecutor.
In his ruling, Judge Michael Seabright ordered that Essayli will not be able to participate in or supervise any attorneys working on two criminal cases, but delayed his order and granted the federal government five business days to file a stay pending an appeal. He also declined to dismiss the two indictments.
"In sum, Essayli is unlawfully serving as a "de facto" United States Attorney, and is disqualified from participating in or supervising the prosecutions of Ramirez and Tran," Seabright wrote in the ruling.
The prosecutions Seabright referred to were for Jaime Hector Ramirez, who is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and Tu Anh Tran, who is charged with possessing property stolen from interstate or foreign shipment.
Seabright made a similar ruling last year while Essayli was serving as acting U.S. Attorney. The court allowed Essayli to continue to serve as first assistant U.S. attorney after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi named him to the position, which heads the office in lieu of a chief federal prosecutor.
Since last year, appeals courts have ruled in similar cases where the Trump administration appointed prosecutors as first assistant U.S. attorneys and then elevated them to acting U.S. attorney. The panels ruled that those prosecutors, John Sarcone in Albany and Sigal Chattah in Nevada, were unlawfully appointed because they were not serving as first assistant when the U.S. attorney position became vacant, as Seabright's latest ruling noted.
The federal government appealed these cases to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month.
In a statement, Essayli said his office respectfully disagreed with the order and indicated Seabright's ruling will follow a similar path to the Supreme Court.
"The President and the Attorney General have every right to select supervisors within the Justice Department," Essayli stated. "Ultimately, this question will be decided by the Supreme Court, and I look forward to serving in my current role until then."
Essayli was sworn in as interim head of the Central District of California in April 2025 after serving in the California State Assembly.
The Central District of California serves seven counties, including LA, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura and San Luis Obispo. That vast region includes nearly 20 million people, according to Essayli's release, making it the largest federal judicial district in the country.
