First Assistant Prosecutor
Neil J. Cleary

First Assistant Prosecutor
Neil J. Cleary

IMG_1996On October 2, 2015, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes appointed Neil J. Cleary to the position of First Assistant Prosecutor. Mr. Cleary had served as Acting First Assistant Prosecutor since August 2, 2015.

Mr. Cleary began his employment with the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office in February 2003, as an Assistant Prosecutor assigned to the Trial Section, where he served until 2012.

On March 30, 2009, Mr. Cleary was promoted to the position of Senior Assistant Prosecutor and he became a Trial Section Supervisor in July 2011.

In January 2012, Mr. Cleary was transferred to the Homicide Unit where he served until October 2013.

On November 4, 2013, Mr. Cleary was promoted to Acting Chief Assistant Prosecutor of the Trial Unit and he was officially sworn-in as Chief Assistant Prosecutor of the Trial Unit on December 24, 2013.

Mr. Cleary has been previously employed as an Assistant Essex County Prosecutor from 2000-2003.

He clerked for the Honorable Ronald G. Marmo, J.S.C. (ret.) in New Jersey Superior Court-Law Division in the Passaic Vicinage from 1999-2000.

In December 1999, Mr. Cleary was admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey and in the U.S. District Court-District of New Jersey.

Mr. Cleary received his Juris Doctor Degree from New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts in 1999. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey in 1994.