Ralph S. Boelter Named Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Division

WASHINGTON, D.C. — FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, has announced the appointment of Ralph S. Boelter as the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Division. Mr. Boelter will report to the division on January 22, 2007. The Minneapolis Division serves the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In addition to the headquarters office in Minneapolis, Mr. Boelter will oversee 14 FBI satellite offices within the division’s territory.

Mr. Boelter, a Wisconsin native, earned a Juris Doctorate with honors from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his undergraduate studies in public administration in California. Prior to his employment with the FBI, Mr. Boelter served in the U.S. Marine Corps and the San Diego Police Department where he attained the rank of Sergeant.

Mr. Boelter was appointed an FBI special agent in July 1991 and was assigned to the Boston Division where he investigated white collar crime, violent crime, and criminal enterprise matters. In December 1997, he was promoted to the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters where he had oversight responsibility for many of the Bureau’s violent crime and fugitive investigations, including the nationwide manhunt for Rafael Ramirez, the “Railway Serial Killer,” and Top Ten Most Wanted fugitive. Mr. Boelter served in that unit until March 2000, when he was transferred to the Los Angeles Division to supervise the Violent Crime/Criminal Enterprise squad in the Long Beach Resident Agency.

In November 2001, Mr. Boelter assumed the duties of Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Violent Crimes/Criminal Enterprise Branch of the Los Angeles Division. He was formally appointed as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in January 2003. During his tenure in that position, Mr. Boelter worked closely with other law enforcement agencies, particularly the Los Angeles Police Department, to target violent gang enterprises. Mr. Boelter also led the Los Angeles Division’s initial response to the incident at the Los Angeles International Airport involving multiple homicides at the El Al ticket counter on July 4, 2002. Mr. Boelter also supervised the Long Beach, Ventura, Santa Maria, and Lancaster Resident Agencies while assigned to the Los Angeles Division.

In April 2005, Mr. Boelter was assigned to the investigation involving the unauthorized disclosure of CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert identity.

In September 2004, Mr. Boelter was promoted to the position of Inspector at FBI Headquarters, in Washington, D.C. In that position, Mr. Boelter led inspection teams in comprehensive assessments of FBI offices around the world.