William Ihlenfeld

William Ihlenfeld is a former two-time United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia — first from 2010 to 2016, and again from 2021 to 2025 — and a seasoned trial lawyer who has tried more than 50 jury trials to verdict in state and federal court and successfully argued before both the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. He focuses his practice on defending individuals and organizations in high-stakes civil and criminal litigation and conducting internal investigations for corporations, universities, and municipalities.

Ihlenfeld is experienced in representing clients in highly regulated industries, including healthcare and securities. He has led matters involving False Claims Act violations, the Stark Law, public corruption, government contracting fraud, and securities fraud. Drawing on extensive government experience at both the state and federal levels, he also represents licensed professionals in matters involving Controlled Substances Act violations, opioid diversion allegations, and billing irregularities. When clients face criminal exposure, Ihlenfeld develops innovative legal arguments that consistently produce favorable outcomes — including charges dismissed outright and, where a resolution is unavoidable, reduced charges and favorable sentencing.

While serving as the top federal prosecutor in Northern West Virginia, Ihlenfeld pursued one of the world’s largest banks for failing to identify money laundering by drug cartels and terrorist groups, securing nearly $2 billion in penalties. He also brokered a $150 million settlement with a large pharmaceutical company related to its filling of suspicious orders placed by West Virginia pharmacies. During his second term, Ihlenfeld led the office’s dismantling of several major drug trafficking organizations, including a Baltimore-based fentanyl network, a Philadelphia-based drug operation, a Sinaloa Cartel-tied group in Martinsburg, and the Rico McGhee organization, which had been a leading source of illicit drugs flowing into the Ohio Valley. Under his leadership, the office ranked first in the nation among all 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices for drug prosecutions and third in the nation for gun prosecutions in 2024.

Ihlenfeld also made healthcare and pandemic-relief fraud a signature priority, forming the Mountaineer Health Care Fraud Strike Force to take a data-driven approach to identifying fraud and building partnerships with private-sector institutions to strengthen intelligence-sharing. He similarly led an intensive crackdown on COVID-19 relief fraud, work that continues today under an extended statute of limitations. He also revamped the Northern West Virginia Suspicious Activity Report Review Team, a specialized multi-agency law enforcement unit that reviews suspicious activity reports filed by financial institutions, with particular emphasis on protecting older West Virginians from elder financial exploitation.

Ihlenfeld served as chairman of both the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Executive Board and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Executive Board.

Between his terms as United States Attorney, Ihlenfeld worked at two prominent law firms, where his practice focused on complex civil and criminal litigation. During this time, he led internal investigations for corporate clients and provided trusted counsel to healthcare professionals and business executives facing federal investigations, and he represented hospitals, physician groups, and small business owners in a range of sensitive matters.

Before serving as a federal prosecutor, Ihlenfeld spent 13 years as a state prosecutor in multiple West Virginia counties, where he prosecuted white-collar crime, drug trafficking, and violent crime.