Veteran federal prosecutor Eric Gibson to lead New Jersey Office of Public Integrity

A veteran federal prosecutor with decades of corruption-hunting experience has been tapped to run the state’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability following the recent departure of the unit’s former boss.

New OPIA Executive Director Eric Gibson spent nearly two decades with the U.S. Department of Justice working on a “variety of complicated, sensitive public corruption investigations” involving racketeering, fraud, money laundering, and extortion allegations in New York and Pennsylvania, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.

Gibson also did a short stint in private practice before joining Platkin’s corruption bureau about a year ago.

Starting Sept. 19, he will lead the office — and as head of the public integrity division, oversee the attorneys and members of law enforcement who investigate and prosecute public corruption cases.

“Eric has shown he will lead with the independence, fortitude, and discipline necessary to tackle corruption in New Jersey and to continue the office’s growth,” Platkin said.

Gibson will also oversee smaller units within OPIA, including those that investigate fatal encounters with police, cold cases, conviction reviews, and a bureau that handles internal affairs cases involving police statewide.

He will replace Drew Skinner, himself a former federal prosecutor with the Southern District of New York, who took over New Jersey’s public integrity office in May 2024.

“I will miss Drew’s steady hand and his leadership,” Gibson said in the statement. “I am humbled to pick up his baton and honored to be entrusted with leading OPIA’s essential work and continuing its mission of ensuring that public resources are used properly, that government officials abide by the law, and that the best interests of the people of New Jersey are served by those in positions of power.”

“OPIA stands at the very intersection where the trust and confidence of the people is built or broken by the conduct of their public servants,” Gibson said. “Our work is a priority for the attorney general and we will continue to execute our duties vigorously without concern for fear or favor, applying the law to the facts as we find them.”

A recognized expert in public corruption, racketeering, and civil rights prosecutions, Gibson started his career with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where he served for a decade.

Later, he worked as a trial attorney for the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., and spent just over five years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Platkin said.

During his career, Gibson prosecuted U.S. congressmen and their families; a Philadelphia deputy mayor; a nationally recognized political consultant; Ohio’s former deputy treasurer, who later served as comptroller for the City of Chicago; a major donor to U.S. Senate and presidential campaigns; and a Mississippi member of the Ku Klux Klan in a civil rights-era cold case involving the torture and murder of two Black teens in 1964.

Former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal created the OPIA in September 2018 as a ramped-up office to “root out corruption and misconduct.”  The office had faced controversy due to allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, including destruction of evidence and abuse of power in investigations. Other issues include allegations of illegal and unconstitutional investigative tactics, a lack of transparency, and long-standing delays in cases, leading to calls for increased oversight and a monitor for the unit.