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Former Atlanta U.S. Attorney John Horn has more than 25 years of experience in government and internal investigations, white collar criminal defense, national security, and crisis management. He is an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer who advises corporations and senior executives in response to investigations and enforcement actions by government agencies. Clients in a broad range of industries, from financial services to retail and logistics to life sciences and healthcare, rely on John to navigate sensitive, high profile, and complex matters that pose threats to business continuity and reputation. He also counsels clients regarding corporate compliance reviews and initiatives.
John has guided Fortune 50 companies, multistate health care systems, and entrepreneurial start-ups through criminal, civil, and administrative investigations by a broad slate of federal and state agencies, leading to declinations or, if necessary, global resolutions of parallel enforcement actions. Since leaving DOJ, John has led defense teams responding to investigations of federal contracting fraud, health care fraud, environmental violations, FDA violations, pharmacy and controlled substance compliance, consumer protection issues, and multiple other concerns raised by government agencies. John also has conducted independent investigations requested by companies and government entities alike to produce comprehensive reports of potential misconduct that have been relied upon by boards and oversight agencies when responding to crisis-level events.
During his 16 years as a federal prosecutor, John supervised and prosecuted the Atlanta U.S. Attorney's Office’s largest cases involving complex financial and health care fraud, cybersecurity, public and corporate corruption, money laundering, controlled substance diversion, and national security. John also supervised an active False Claims Act (FCA) practice focusing on health care fraud, off-label marketing, government contracting fraud, and many other claims. John also counsels clients regarding data breaches, remediation, and prevention, as well as other corporate initiatives and compliance programs.
As U.S. Attorney for one of DOJ’s largest offices, John guided the strategies and initiatives for more than 6 million citizens in the Northern District of Georgia as well as the national DOJ community. He served on the Attorney General’s advisory subcommittees on financial fraud, cybercrime, violent crime, and other subjects, and he chaired the AGAC’s Elder Justice Working Group. John created the district’s first Cybercrime Unit, which prosecuted leading international cases involving sophisticated hackers of financial institutions, the creators of preeminent malware/botnet programs, and state actors conducting corporate espionage. As U.S. Attorney for one of DOJ’s largest offices, John also worked closely with DEA and state regulators to coordinate controlled substance diversion investigations, and he created and led Georgia's first multidisciplinary heroin and opioid working group, bringing together stakeholders from across the state to seek solutions to reduce the diversion and abuse of these substances.
Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, John held other leadership roles within the Office, including First Assistant and Chief of the Appellate Division, where he gained extensive experience in conducting jury trials, performing appellate arguments, and testifying before both the U.S. and Georgia Senate. He served as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section, and Lead Attorney of the Atlanta Organized Crime/Drug Enforcement Strike Force.
John began his DOJ career leading long-term wiretap investigations of international drug cartels, and was the lead prosecutor in the takedown of significant components of Mexico’s Beltran-Leyva cartel, including kingpin Edgar Valdez-Villarreal, aka “La Barbie,” and high-level members of the Sinaloa Federation. He also served as a member of the prosecution team in the case of Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph. John personally led one of Georgia's first "pill mill" opioid diversion prosecutions after the national epidemic first surfaced in the state.
Following law school, John clerked for Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr. of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Harold L. Murphy of the U.S. District Court -- then practiced with King & Spalding’s Special Matters & Government Investigations team before he joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
John is an active member of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys (NAFUSA) and recently served as the Chair of the Ethics and Procurement Subcommittee for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ transition team. John is an active board member and volunteer of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyer’s Foundation (AVLF) and is an advisory board member for the Atlanta Islamic Speaker’s Bureau.
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