Valentin names first assistant prosecutor Warshaw promoted; Pasterchick to be chief of county detectives BY SUE MORGAN Staff Writer FREEHOLD — As 2006 begins, two longtime law enforcement officials take on new leadership posts with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Peter A. Warshaw Jr., a 19-year veteran of the Prosecutor’s Office, and Michael Pasterchick Jr., a career federal special agent, were sworn in as first assistant prosecutor and chief of county detectives, respectively, on Tuesday morning by state Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson. Warshaw, most recently assistant county prosecutor and Pasterchick, who comes to his new position after working as a special agent in charge of the state Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Newark, will both report to current Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin. “I am extremely pleased with the selection of these two dedicated and committed law enforcement professionals,” Valentin said in a Dec. 22 press release announcing the appointments of both men. A Middletown resident, Warshaw first came to the county Prosecutor’s Office in September 1986 to work as a law clerk after graduating from the Delaware Law School of Widener University in Pennsylvania. In 1987, he was sworn in as an assistant prosecutor assigned to the juvenile/family division and the trial section. In July 1989, Warshaw was assigned to the county’s investigative division and assigned to the narcotics strike force until April 1991, then to the Economic Crimes Unit until July 1991. At that time, Warshaw was moved to the Major Crimes Unit and named director of the Arson and Environmental Crimes Unit, serving in that post until January 1995. Advancing to director of the Major Crimes Unit, Warshaw oversaw the operations of the homicide and property crimes unit for the following 11 years. According to Valentin, Warshaw has “extensive criminal litigation experience,” and is certified as a criminal trial attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. He has been chair of the Monmouth County Bar Association Criminal Practice Committee since 2002. A 1983 graduate of the University of Delaware, Warshaw has taught at the Monmouth County Police Academy in Freehold Township, the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, S.C., and the National District Attorneys Association. “Mr. Warshaw is a highly experienced and skilled trial lawyer who has been involved in many of this county’s most significant investigations and prosecutions in recent years,” Valentin said. “He is a well-respected member of the law enforcement community who will continue to provide great public service to the people of Monmouth County.” Pasterchick started his federal law enforcement career in October 1978 when he accepted a job as a special agent with the intelligence division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in New York. Two years later, he was selected to serve as an IRS special agent assigned to a federal task force for the DEA’s New York division. In June 1983 he joined the DEA and worked in that agency’s Newark and New York offices and was subsequently promoted to a supervisory position in 1991. In January 1996, Pasterchick was reassigned to the DEA’s special operations division in Newington, Va., serving as staff coordinator in the Latin American Division. Promoted to chief of state and local programs at DEA’s headquarters, a year later, Pasterchick oversaw state and local task forces, organized crime drug enforcement task forces and numerous other programs relative to the investigation and prosecution of those participating in dealing narcotics. In April 1998, Pasterchick transferred to the Philadelphia division of the DEA to serve as special agent in charge of that city’s state and local task force. In 2000, he moved to the New Jersey division and became High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) commander until August 2003. At that point, he was named to the DEA’s senior executive service and was appointed as special agent in charge of the New Jersey division. He has been responsible for the state’s divisional offices in Newark, Atlantic City, Camden and Paterson, supervising a staff of 250 including other special agents and investigators. Most recently, Pasterchick and the DEA coordinated a 13-month-long investigation into heroin trafficking in Asbury Park, Valentin said. The three-phase probe included cooperation among the county Prosecutor’s Office, and the police departments in Asbury Park, Neptune Township, Neptune city and Long Branch. More than 30 federal prosecutions and 50 state prosecutions resulted from that undercover investigation, Valentin said. “Mr. Pasterchick’s impressive background, experience, and accomplishments will prove essential in our office’s goal to protect and serve the people of this great county,” Valentin said. A 1975 graduate of Monmouth University, Pasterchick holds a degree in accounting.