John K. Webb, a member of the Middle District of Tennessee’s U.S. Attorney’s Office is giving a talk today entitled “Introduction to the Federal Criminal Practice: Why Make a Federal Case Out of It?” in Grise Hall Auditorium at 2:30 p.m.

Webb is the Deputy Criminal Chief for White Collar and Economic Crimes. He is also the Identity Theft Coordinator for the Middle District of Tennessee, according to the United States Department of Justice.  

Webb was formerly an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Major Frauds Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Los Angeles. In 2003, Webb received the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement In Support of Litigation, according to the United States Department of Justice.

Webb will speak about the role of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the federal system. He will also discuss some of his more interesting cases, including cyber crimes, terrorism and identity theft. This talk is sponsored by the Economics, Sociology and Political Science departments, as well as the Honors College.

Catherine Carey, chair and professor of economics, said his presentation would touch on subjects such as the role of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the federal system, and would include discussion about federal criminal statutes, the types of cases he prosecutes, how cases are referred to his office and other topics. She added he usually has a few case studies he uses as examples. 

Carey said while the event was initially created with economic majors who were interested in law in mind, she hopes there will be a large turnout as Webb’s talk relates to a variety of majors.

“I really hope there’s a good audience,” she said. “It’s a small segment of Econ majors, but I would think criminology and political science and pre-law would be all over that presentation.”

She encouraged students to attend if they’d like to learn about the criminal process and working a federal case. Carey said Webb’s talk should be beneficial to different majors as well as informative. 

“He’s interesting, he’s got a lot of experience, and it’s a whole field that’s a mixture of majors,” she said. 

Bowling Green graduate student Franklin Milam said Webb could offer not only good advice, but interesting stories.

“He could share valuable knowledge into becoming a federal [employee], the ‘tricks and trades’ of hiring, and provide good advice for other jobs in [the] legal field,” he said. “I’m sure if he is allowed to share some [of] the cases he has worked on, jaws will hit the floor, there will be a definite ‘cool’ factor.”

Milam added he personally hopes Webb shares stories about some of his high profile cases.

“He has handed out indictments on very high profile cases, and even worked on some of the most important cases the federal government has had cases on; which I personally hope he is allowed to share with us,” he said.

Milam said students should attend to learn more, whether or not their major is related or not.

“Student[s] may learn something about a potential career that may realign their incentive to pursue a job in this field, the government, or seek a different career path in general,” he said. “Simply, knowledge is power. The incentive is there to come and learn something that you may not otherwise know.”

Webb’s presentation will take place in Grise Hall Auditorium at 2:30 p.m.

Ed. note: A previous version of this article used an incorrect pronoun when referring to Catherine Carey. This error has been corrected. The Herald regrets the error.