Prosecutor becomes figure in mortgage mess

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thomas O'Brien, the U.S. Attorney for California's Central District, is emerging as a likely prosecutor in criminal cases expected from the U.S. mortgage meltdown.

In the past, he has faced gang members in court and since becoming U.S. Attorney in October 2007, he has shown he is willing to bring aggressive and sometimes even creative charges.

His office is already looking into New Century Financial Corp and IndyMac Bancorp Inc, according to securities filings by those two mortgage lenders. Countrywide Financial Corp, based in Calabasas, California, is also on his patch.

Executives charged with wrongdoing would face a straight shooter who is developing a reputation for being tough on white collar crime, according said Brian Sun, a former federal prosecutor who is now a trial lawyer with international law firm Jones Day.

If O'Brien brings cases to trial, it would mark the first time California's Central District has prosecuted a major financial fraud case since the 1980s savings and loan crisis.

"Is he ambitious? Of course he is," said Brian O'Neill, another former federal prosecutor who is also an attorney at Jones Day. "People don't get there unless they are ambitious."

A former radar intercept officer on board U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters, O'Brien, 49, worked in the Hardcore Gang Division for Los Angeles County, bringing dozens of gang murder cases, according to his Department of Justice biography.

"He is a a lawyer who thinks like a lawyer and a little like a cop," said O'Neill.