Law & Order - Berry College

Noel Hillman (80c) with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
16 BERRY
W
When representatives from United
Nations member states gathered
in Vienna in July to finalize a
treaty to combat political corruption
worldwide, former Berry student Noel
Hillman (80c) had a place at the negotiating
table. The lawyer, who serves as chief of the
Public Integrity Section in the Criminal
Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ), was sharing America’s expertise in
sniffing out and prosecuting corrupt
government officials.
In his DOJ post, Noel leads the 30-lawyer
section responsible for prosecuting public
corruption cases or, as Noel explained, “any
criminal wrongdoing by someone holding a
position of public trust” – typically an
elected or appointed person in government.
At the Vienna meeting, Noel worked
with other anticorruption experts to put the
finishing touches on the first U.N.-based
multilateral treaty designed to fight
corruption around the globe.
“Public corruption is one of the
Department of Justice’s highest priorities,”
Noel said. “The FBI has named it its highest
non-terrorism law enforcement priority. We
think that having trust in government at all
levels is absolutely critical in a democracy.
It’s also very important to the issue of
homeland security that people who have
positions of trust and authority live up to the
highest standards of public service.”
Quite a Job
Based in Washington, D.C., Noel heads a
team of federal prosecutors tasked with a
wide array of responsibilities. They have
exclusive jurisdiction over federal judges.
They often handle cases involving alleged
wrongdoing by FBI agents, members of
Congress and members of the nation’s
intelligence community.
“These types of cases require a certain
level of experience, expertise and security
clearance,” he said, “which our office can
provide.”
Noel added that his department, which is
composed of career prosecutors who are not
politically appointed, is also responsible for
handling politically sensitive cases, such as
those alleging campaign finance law violations.
A Real Impact
Since Noel was named chief in January
2003, the Public Integrity Section has
Law
By Dawn Tolbert
“Public corruption is one of the
Department of Justice’s highest
priorities. The FBI has named it its
highest non-terrorism law
enforcement priority. We think that
having trust in government at all
levels is absolutely critical in a
democracy.”
–NOEL HILLMAN (80C)
recorded a number of convictions for
corruption within the State Department. “As
part of our homeland security efforts, we’ve
been prosecuting State Department officials
who are taking bribes to let people into the
country on non-immigrant visa status,” he
explained. “We’ve had a number of successes
in Texas and Sacramento, Calif., and here in
D.C., where we’ve aggressively pursued these
pockets of corruption.
“These are important cases because this
type of corruption creates an avenue for
terrorists and other criminals to get into the
United States.”
Public Integrity Section lawyers also are
teaming up with other investigators to
ensure the safety of the nation’s critical
infrastructure. “We’ve helped coordinate
sweeps of airport employees around the
country and arrested people who have false
credentials,” he said. “We’re working with
various components inside and outside the
Justice Department to investigate employees
of companies, both public and private, that
are part of the critical infrastructure –
transportation, nuclear power plants,
chemical plants, for example.”
For Noel, serving as Public Integrity
Section chief is an ideal assignment. “It’s an
interesting job, and it’s challenging,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of important things on our
plate, but I think one of the highest callings
for a federal prosecutor is to work on
corruption matters.”

& Order
A Page of History
Challenges are not new to Noel, who as a
sophomore in college found himself leaving
Berry because of pressing responsibilities at
home. His father, Joseph J. Hillman (38H),
was suffering from heart problems and had
been unable to work for significant periods
of time. Noel returned to New Jersey to work
and live with his father and mother, Evelyn
Wall Hillman (39H). He finished his college
education through part-time studies at
Monmouth College and eventually earned
his J.D. degree through the night law-school
program at Seton Hall.
After earning his law degree, Noel
worked as a clerk for District Court Judge
Maryanne Trump Barry, sister of mogul
Donald Trump. Noel’s next career step took
him to the New York City law firm of Lord
Day & Lord, Barrett Smith, where he did
white-collar defense. While there, he earned
a master’s degree in law from New York
University, concentrating in antitrust and
intellectual property. He was part of the
defense team on a number of high-profile
cases including the securities-fraud
prosecution of Mike Milken and the taxfraud
prosecution of Marc Rich, who was
later pardoned by President Clinton.
“I got tired of being a defense lawyer,”
Noel admitted. “I really found myself seeing
things too often from the government’s point
of view.”
Noel was hired by then-U.S. Attorney for
New Jersey Michael Chertoff to work in the
district’s criminal division.
“At first I did work in the general crimes
section, and then I went to the white-collar
unit,” Noel said. “I prosecuted people for
shipping missile parts to Iran, military technology
to Russia and aircraft parts to Dubai.”
Following the 1996 elections, Noel was
asked to serve on the Campaign Financing
Task Force established by then-Attorney
General Janet Reno to investigate
allegations that the 1996 election cycle had
been tainted by foreign money.
“I ended up on the prosecution team of
David Chang, who was a big contributor to
President Clinton and others, but especially
Sen. Robert Torricelli up in New Jersey,”
Noel said.
Chang eventually pleaded guilty to
obstruction of justice charges and making
illegal contributions to Torricelli’s campaign,
and the senator abandoned his bid for
re-election.
Soon after, Chertoff was named assistant
attorney general for the DOJ’s Criminal
Division. He asked Noel to work for him
again by joining the Public Integrity Section.
“I came down in September 2001, and
I’ve been in D.C. since then, first as
principal deputy, and then Mike named me
the chief in January 2003,” Noel said.
Noel lives in Great Falls, Va., with wife
Tracy and their three children: John (10),
Drew (8) and Paige (4). Despite the
“terrible commute,” Noel is quite content
with his current responsibilities. “I feel very
lucky to have this job. It makes coming to
work every day exciting. I have a purpose,
and I feel like I’m doing some good in the
world. If you can have all that in a job,
you’re pretty blessed.” B
Family ties
Noel has a strong family heritage
that ties him to Berry. He is the son of
Evelyn Wall Hillman (39H) and the late
Joseph J. Hillman (38H), shown above
during their Berry days.
Following the death of Noel’s
grandfather, Joseph was sent to Berry
to live with an aunt, Frances Olmsted
Keown, who taught music at the Berry
Schools and was married to Gordon
Keown, longtime adviser to Martha
Berry. Noel’s mother came to Berry at
an early age after her mother died.
Joseph and Evelyn finished high school
at Berry and were attending the
college when Joseph enlisted to serve
in World War II.
Noel grew up hearing his mother’s
fond stories about Berry and had
decided to attend Berry “much to my
mother’s delight,” he said. “My mom
used to tell me about the mission of
Berry to mold students as whole
people; to educate them in the mind,
in the heart and in skills. I think the
people who are attracted to go there
are already along that line. They are
well rounded and have good moral
character. They are very interesting
intellectually and interested
intellectually. I did go to another
college, which I love, but I’d put Berry
students up against them any day.”
SPRING 2004 17