The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI’s top counterterrorism official, Larry Mefford, is retiring after only three months on the job.
Mefford is leaving for personal reasons to return to Nevada, where he has family and a job offer as a top security official with the Las Vegas company controlled by gambling magnate Steve Wynn, FBI officials said Wednesday.
“Larry Mefford has been a valued colleague whose experience both as an agent in the field and as a manager at FBI headquarters will be greatly missed,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said.
Mefford, 53, joined the FBI in 1979 and has worked at several field offices in California and in Minneapolis. At headquarters, he was involved in weapons of mass destruction work and oversaw the establishment of the FBI’s Cyber Division dealing with computer crimes.
Mefford was named the top assistant in the counterterrorism division in November 2002 and elevated in July to the senior position of executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence. A replacement was not immediately named.