U.S. Attorney Michael Moore resigning as chief prosecutor in Middle District

U.S. Attorney Michael Moore is resigning his post effective the end of the month.

Moore said he tendered his resignation to the president Monday after being approached with other opportunities he's pursuing, which he said he would divulge later.

Appointed by the president in October 2010 as the chief federal prosecutor for the Middle District of Georgia, Moore said "it's the greatest honor you can have to stand up and say you represent the United States."

The job is special and one you don't expect to hold forever, so you do the most you can, he said Thursday.

When he was sworn in, Moore said he wanted to put a new emphasis on identifying and prosecuting cases that could result in forfeitures. He also said that white-collar crimes such as health care fraud and public corruption would be a priority for prosecution, and that federal prosecutors would take on more gun and drug cases.

Among the cases his office handled were public corruption charges against four Bibb County sheriff's deputies after an undercover sting, and an $11.2 million settlement with ConAgra Foods to settle allegations that the company had shipped Peter Pan peanut butter tainted with salmonella.

It's likely that an interim U.S. attorney will be named following Moore's departure. It's unclear whether President Barack Obama will appoint a permanent replacement or whether the position will remain an interim until a new president is elected in 2016.

G.F. "Pete" Peterman III, the chief assistant U.S. attorney, served as acting U.S. attorney between former U.S. Attorney Max Wood's resignation in July 2009 until Moore was sworn in. Wood was appointed Georgia's chief judge of the Office of State Administrative Hearings after an unsuccessful bid to become Georgia's attorney general.

At the time of his appointment, Moore was a Houston County attorney. He'd previously worked in the Houston County District Attorney's Office, rising to the position of chief assistant district attorney before leaving for private practice in 1997.

He won a special election runoff in 2002 to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Sonny Perdue when Perdue resigned to campaign for governor. Later that year, he lost a bid for re-election to challenger Ross Tolleson, R-Perry.

The Middle District of Georgia spans an area stretching from Georgia's southwestern corner, north though Albany and Macon, and northeast through Athens to the South Carolina border.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 6:39 PM with the headline "U.S. Attorney Michael Moore resigning as chief prosecutor in Middle District ."