Heather L. Carlton

Heather Carlton is an assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, where she prosecutes a wide variety of federal crimes, including racketeering, violent crime and public corruption. She was the managing assistant U.S. attorney for the Charlottesville office, and has also served as the district’s deputy criminal chief and senior litigation counsel. She created and implemented the district’s Project Safe Neighborhood initiative.

Carlton previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., where she was the lead prosecutor for the city’s most violent district before becoming a senior prosecutor in the homicide section. Carlton has tried numerous cases in both state and federal courts, and argued appeals before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Since graduating from law school, Carlton has also practiced general civil litigation at large firms in Boston and D.C., and, most recently, at McGuireWoods in Charlottesville.

Carlton graduated from the University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences and from the Law School. She teaches the Prosecution Clinic with Joe D. Platania.