Resume of John A. Peralta

Mr. Peralta has over 30 years of experience in the prosecution and defense of state and federal criminal cases and appeals. 

WHITE COLLAR CRIME

Mr. Peralta spent the first 10 years of his career investigating and prosecuting a wide variety of state and federal economic and financial crimes.

From 1989 to 1995 he was a Securities Enforcement Attorney where he investigated and prosecuted investment fraud cases. The first matter he handled after graduating law school was presenting a $4 million fraud case to the Dallas County Grand Jury. He has extensive experience handling complex multi-million dollar state and federal securities fraud cases. He was later promoted to Assistant Director of the Enforcement Division where he was responsible for litigating violations committed by licensed securities agents, broker-dealers and investment advisers.

From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Peralta was Criminal Counsel with the Texas Department of Insurance where he prosecuted insurance fraud cases - including major healthcare fraud cases. 

From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Peralta served as an Assistant Attorney General under then Texas Attorney General John Cornyn. He was assigned to the Special Crimes Division where he prosecuted white collar crimes, auto theft cases and money laundering offenses. In 2001, he was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney to assist in the prosecution of a major drug, firearms and money laundering case.

FEDERAL CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Peralta was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas where he prosecuted hundreds of federal criminal cases. While serving on the border with Mexico in one of the busiest federal districts in the United States, Mr. Peralta gained invaluable experience in cases involving controlled substances, conspiracies, money laundering, firearms and immigration offenses.

From 2006 to 2010, Mr. Peralta returned to the Texas Attorney General's Office under then Attorney General Greg Abbott. He was appointed Chief of the Federal Prosecutions Section of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit where he supervised 12 other attorneys who were cross-designated as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute federal Medicaid fraud cases. While serving in this position, Mr. Peralta was also appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas to prosecute major healthcare fraud cases.

STATE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

After leaving the Attorney General's Office, Mr. Peralta served as an Assistant County Attorney and Assistant District Attorney in Liberty and Angelina counties. He prosecuted hundreds of state felony and misdemeanor cases, including violent crimes such as murder, robbery and assault; fraud offenses such as forgery and identity theft; property crimes such as theft, embezzlement and burglary; drug cases such as possession, delivery and manufacture of controlled substances; sex offenses such as sexual assault and indecency with a child; and intoxication offenses such as DWI, intoxication assault and intoxication manslaughter. He also handled numerous juvenile cases and state criminal appeal cases. 

Mr. Peralta ended his career as a prosecutor by serving as the First Assistant District Attorney in Angelina County where he was responsible for jury trials of major cases, including murders, aggravated assaults and aggravated sexual assaults.

STATE AND FEDERAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE

Mr. Peralta now practices exclusively as a state and federal criminal defense attorney. He has defended clients accused of a wide variety of state and federal felony and misdemeanor offenses. In one of his first jury trials as defense counsel, Mr. Peralta obtained the outright acquittal of a client charged with Aggravated Assault of a Peace Officer. 

Mr. Peralta has also represented numerous clients in the appeals of their criminal convictions. He has briefed and argued cases before the Texas courts of appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He also has experience filing Petitions for Certiorari with the U.S Supreme Court.

EDUCATION

Mr. Peralta earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with Honors from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1986. He majored in Finance with an emphasis in investment finance.

He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1989 from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas.

BAR MEMBERSHIPS

Mr. Peralta was admitted to the State Bar of Texas on November 3, 1989, and is licensed to practice in all Texas state courts.

He is also admitted to practice in a number of federal jurisdictions, including the Eastern District of Texas, the Western District of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Mr. Peralta is a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel in the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas where he represents indigent defendants in the trial and appeal of their federal criminal cases. 

SECURITY CLEARANCE

From 2001 to 2010, Mr. Peralta held a National Security Clearance after a full-field F.B.I. backgound investigation adjudicated by the U.S. Department of Justice.