Office of Administrative Law Judges

The Administrative Law Judges at the Office of Administrative Law Judges (LJ) conduct formal hearings and adjudications in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. § 551, et seq.) in connection with enforcement and regulatory cases brought by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. § 801, et seq.) and its attendant regulations (21 C.F.R. § 1300, et seq.). United States Administrative Law Judges are appointed for life under the Administrative Procedure Act and execute their duties with complete judicial/decisional independence from the Agency. DEA Administrative Law Judges may not perform non-adjudicative duties, are precluded from investigative responsibilities, may not receive ex parte communications, are not subject to performance evaluations, and may not receive performance awards of any kind. The Government is represented at all DEA hearings by the DEA Office of Chief Counsel (CC). 

The Judges at DEA also try and adjudicate cases for other Department of Justice components, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

In DEA cases, the recommended decisions issued by the Judges are forwarded to the DEA Administrator, who issues final Agency decisions. In executing the judicial functions connected with the issuance of final Agency decisions, the Administrator is advised by a legal advisor who is organizationally independent from CC and LJ. Final Agency decisions are published in the Federal Register, and may be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia or to the United States Court of Appeals in the circuit where a registrant maintains a principal place of business (21 U.S.C. § 877). The Judges and staff at LJ maintain all official adjudicatory records and are responsible for the integrity of those records for review by the courts.  LJ is also charged with the responsibility of monitoring and tracking of administrative enforcement cases filed by CC and rendering regular reports to the DEA Administrator on case load, case progress, and timeliness statistics.

Administrative proceedings conducted before DEA Administrative Law Judges are governed by the provisions of 21 C.F.R. §§ 1316.41-1316.68.

The DEA Regulations provide that “[d]ocuments shall be dated and deemed filed upon receipt by the Hearing Clerk.” 21 C.F.R. § 1316.45.

Electronic Filing: Correspondence in administrative proceedings pending before DEA Administrative Law Judges may now be filed as a PDF attachment via email to the DEA Judicial Mailbox (ECF-DEA@usdoj.gov).

The forwarding email on all electronically-filed correspondence must indicate that it was simultaneously served on the opposing party via email. Respondents must ensure that all documents filed with the DEA Judicial mailbox are simultaneously served on the Government Mailbox at (dea.registration.litigation@usdoj.gov).

Email addresses of the parties or their counsel may be modified upon notice to the assigned Judge and opposing party.

The email receipt date reflected by the DEA Judicial Mailbox server shall conclusively control all issues related to the date of service of all filed correspondence, provided however, that correspondence received after 5:00 p.m., local Washington, D.C. time, will be deemed to have been received on the following business day. Note: While email is utilized as the method to forward documents for filing--as attachments--no substantive matter communicated through the body of a forwarding email will be considered.

Parties must refrain from including social security numbers or personally identifiable information in electronically-filed documents. Proposed exhibits will not be accepted via electronic filing.

Hard Copy and Facsimile Filing: Requests for Hearing may still be filed by hard copy, addressed to the attention of “The Hearing Clerk” at the mailing address (not the Chambers and Courtroom Address) provided below. Other correspondence sent in hard-copy form should be addressed to the attention of the assigned judge at the mailing address below. Hard copies of documents must be provided in triplicate, and because the mailing address is not the physical address of the Office of Administrative Law Judges, the parties should mail hard copy filings sufficiently in advance of the due date to assure timely receipt by the Hearing Clerk.

Documents may also be served via facsimile at the fax number below, so long as they are followed up by hard copies consistent with the directions above that are simultaneously placed for delivery. Facsimile filings are limited to twenty (20) pages absent prior permission granted by the assigned judge.

Mailing Address:
Office of Administrative
Law Judges
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

Chambers & Courtroom
1550 Crystal Drive, 9th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Telephone: (202) 307-8188
Facsimile: (202) 307-8198

 

 

Chief Administrative Law Judge

Hon. John J. Mulrooney, II

Law Clerk

Erin M. Dimbleby, Esq.
Staff Assistant Bella Mapeso

Administrative Law Judge

Hon. Teresa A. Wallbaum

Law Clerk

Anne M. Cotter, Esq.

Secretary

Aniayah S. Beckford

Administrative Law Judge

Hon. Paul E. Soeffing

Law Clerk

Courtney J. Lutz, Esq.

Staff Assistant

Danielle Prince

Hearing Office Director

Roxann E. Eline

Hearing Clerk

 Deb Rosario

Other Contacts:
Office of the Chief Counsel
Diversion and Regulatory Litigation Section
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152
Telephone: (202) 307-8010
Facsimile: (202) 307-4946 / 3603

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