Andrew C. Pacheco

Criminal defense attorney Andrew Pacheco is a former prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and a former chief of the Criminal Division of the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

“My job is to understand your problems and goals as well as possible so that together we can find solutions and successful outcomes.”

Andrew Pacheco earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona in 1993, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center in 1996.

He returned to Arizona after graduating from law school and accepted a position with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor. At the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Mr. Pacheco was an Assistant Bureau Chief and later specialized in organized crime prosecutions as a member of the Gang Unit. In 2002 the United States Attorney’s Office in Phoenix, Arizona recruited Mr. Pacheco as an organized crime prosecutor. Mr. Pacheco had the privilege of assisting the Federal Bureau of Investigation in their investigative efforts into the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and received a commendation from then FBI Director Louis Freeh. While a member of the United States Attorney’s Office Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, Mr. Pacheco directed multiple investigations of domestic and international crime syndicates on behalf of the United States. Mr. Pacheco resigned from the United States Attorney’s Office in 2004 to be a Republican candidate for Maricopa County Attorney. Thereafter he returned to the United States Attorney’s Office where he once again focused on organized crime prosecution, as well as public corruption and immigration fraud.

Prior to joining Ryan Rapp Pacheco Sorensen, Mr. Pacheco was Criminal Division Chief for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) where he supervised the AGO’s prosecutors and special agents statewide. In that capacity Mr. Pacheco had a leading role representing the Arizona’s interests in its negotiation of an amended settlement agreement with Western Union and supervised the activities of the Transaction Record Analysis Center (TRAC). He represented the Attorney General on boards and commissions to include the HIDTA Board, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission Executive Committee, the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board and the Arizona Prosecuting Attorney Advisory Council. Prior to serving as the Criminal Division Chief Mr. Pacheco served as the AGO’s Financial Remedies Section Chief and later the Fraud and Special Prosecutions Section Chief. Andrew Pacheco has extensive jury trial experience in both Arizona Superior Court and United States District Court.