November 6, 2009 First Hispanic confirmed as US Attorney for Mass.

BOSTON (AP) - Carmen Ortiz has been confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, becoming the first Hispanic and the first woman to hold the state's top federal prosecutor's job.

Ortiz, an assistant U.S. attorney who prosecutes white-collar crime, was confirmed by the Senate late Thursday after being nominated by President Obama in September.

Ortiz succeeds Michael Sullivan, a Republican who was appointed by President Bush in 2001 and left the job earlier this year.

Ortiz, whose parents are from Puerto Rico, told The Associated Press in a May interview that if she gets the job, her priorities would include terrorism cases, financial crimes, public corruption cases and gang violence.

She called it a "profound honor" to work for the Department of Justice.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)