A 25-year veteran of the United States Secret Service, Lew Merletti served as the agency’s 19^th Director immediately prior to joining the Cleveland Browns organization where he is currently Senior Vice President.  Before becoming Director of the United States Secret Service, Mr. Merletti served as assistant director in the Office of Training, where he was responsible for the curriculum, methodology, and content of training for all Secret Service employees.  He served in the Presidential Protective Division under three Presidents, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, and as Special Agent in Charge of Presidential protection during the Clinton Administration, was ultimately responsible for the physical security of the President and First Family.  (Mr. Merletti maintains close contact with former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton.)  Mr. Merletti has also held supervisory positions in the New York Field Office, the Baltimore Office and the Liaison Division and Office of Inspection at the United States Secret Service headquarters in Washington, DC.  He joined the agency in 1974 as a special agent assigned to the Philadelphia Field Office.

Mr. Merletti has extensive experience with complex criminal investigations, major task force operations, and Secret Service counter-terrorist operations.  He testified before Congress on many occasions, and also briefed the President, other top government officials, and world leaders, on a regular basis regarding security as it relates to worldwide situations.  He has supervised security arrangements for the visit of the President and First Family to hostile environments such as the DMZ; Cartajena, Colombia; Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield; Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Mr. Merletti was a primary driver in having the United States Secret Service designate that year’s Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans as a National Security Special Event (NSSE) resulting in the Secret Service providing the protection plan as well as the physical protection.

Director Merletti received numerous commendations and awards for outstanding performance during his government career including three Secret Service Special Achievement Awards; in 1983 he received an award from the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department for aiding police and a citizen during a critical street situation; the 1987 Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Certificate Commendation for Outstanding Support; the 1997 Rank of Distinguished Executive in the Senior Executive Service; and the 1998 Treasury Medal, the second highest honor bestowed by the Secretary of Treasury and seldom presented.  In 2000, the Secret Service dedicated the largest building at their training facility as the Lewis C. Merletti Classroom for the Office of Training.

Since retirement, Mr. Merletti has received the following awards: the 1999 Distinguished Alumnus Award of the McNulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquesne University; the 1999 Distinguished Service Award from the Marine Corp Law Enforcement Foundation; and the 2001 Lex et Justitia Award from Marquette University for Outstanding Service to Our Country and Dedication to Truth and Justice.

Lew Merletti served three years in the United States Army, including a tour of duty with the 5^th Special Forces Group in Vietnam.  Among the citations he earned were the Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Combat Medical Badge, and Parachute Jump Wings.  Merletti holds a B.A. degree in political science from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and is now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio.  Merletti also serves on the NFL’s Security Advisory Group; is a member of the International Security Management Association (ISMA), and the Business Executives for National Security (BENS).  In March 2005, through his association with BENS, Mr. Merletti spent ten days in Iraq and Afghanistan where he met with military leaders and many high level local officials to include a meeting with President Karzai.  In February 2006, Merletti qualified through the Federal Air Marshall Service as an Armed Security Officer.

Bob Kern has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Economic Crimes Unit of the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office since April of 1991. He serves as the Identity Theft Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and has prosecuted numerous identity theft cases over the past 17 years.

He also serves as the CHIPS Coordinator (“Computer Hacking & Intellectual Property”) for the Northern District of Ohio, and prosecutes cyber-related cases, including computer hackers, on-line fraud schemes, software & movie piracy, signal theft cases and theft of trade secret cases.

Bob has been admitted to the Ohio Bar since 1982.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1991, he served as a Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and as Senior Litigation Counsel for the IRS in Cleveland.

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