Shakeup in roster at U.S. Attorney's Office

Another round of changes swept through the U.S. Attorney's Office yesterday, less than a month after Micheal L. Levy was chosen to lead it.

Levy, whom the Justice Department named interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 28, abruptly replaced Laurie Magid about a month before the end of her term.

The office, with about 140 prosecutors, handles federal prosecutions in nine counties. The crimes include white-collar offenses, guns, drugs, and public corruption, as in the investigation and successful prosecution of former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., Phila.), which Magid supervised.

Yesterday, Levy elevated several veteran prosecutors to leadership positions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Gibson will be his first assistant. Gibson, who joined the office in 1986, had been chief of the civil division.

Levy announced that Linda Dale Hoffa, chief of the criminal division, would leave for a detail with the U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and drugs, which is chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter F. Schenck will replace Hoffa as chief of the criminal division. Schenck, who joined the office in 1979, had led the commercial and consumer fraud section. Levy named Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Zack to replace Schenck.

Levy also named Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor Aspinwall his deputy chief of the criminal division for white-collar crime. Aspinwall has deputy of the violent-crime and counterterrorism section. Taking Aspinwall's place will be Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen A. Miller.

Before becoming interim U.S. attorney, Levy led the office's computer-crimes unit. He has named Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert S. Glenn to that post.