Robert J. Higdon, Jr.

Bobby Higdon is the Chief of the Criminal Division for the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.  He has held that position since July, 2002.  As Criminal Chief, Mr. Higdon oversees the work of more than 30 Assistant United States Attorneys and nearly two dozen Special Assistant United States Attorneys who prosecute terrorism, drug, violent and economic crime cases in the eastern half of North Carolina.  The criminal division charges nearly 1000 cases per year and leads federal criminal investigations with an interstate and international reach.

Mr. Higdon grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and graduated from Wake Forest University in 1985.  In 1989 he received his J.D. from the Wake Forest School of Law.  From 1985 to 1986 Mr. Higdon was Special Assistant to United States Senator John P. East. 

Upon graduation from law school Mr. Higdon practiced with the law firm of Harman, Owen, Saunders and Sweeney in Atlanta, Georgia, where he represented defendants in medical malpractice claims and he worked in the areas of business acquisition, and general business litigation.

In 1991 Mr. Higdon was appointed as Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte.  There he developed a focus on interstate and international drug trafficking organizations, and, in 1994, was appointed the Lead Attorney for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.  He held that position until 2002.  While acting as lead attorney Mr. Higdon prosecuted a number of cases involving Central and South American drug trafficking organizations and was repeatedly honored for his work by the FBI, the DEA, U.S. Customs, the State Bureau of Investigation, and numerous state and local law enforcement agencies.  He was also honored for his outstanding performance by the Executive Office of United States Attorneys with a Director’s Award.

As Criminal Chief Mr. Higdon has overseen a number of significant prosecutions including those of numerous public officials, significant terrorist organizations, large scale drug trafficking organizations and financial crimes.  Throughout 2011 and 2012 Mr. Higdon was the co-lead attorney for the United States in the prosecution of former Presidential candidate John Edwards.  He has again been recognized with a Director’s Award by the Executive Office of United States Attorneys.

Mr. Higdon has also spent a considerable amount of time as a lecturer and instructor.  He is a frequent teacher at the Justice Department’s National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina and at various conferences and training seminars.  Since 2009 he has been the leader of the Justice Department’s effort to train prosecutors, judges, defense counsel and police officers in the Republic of Kosovo.  He lectures and teaches in Kosovo about four times per year.