ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Thomas Shaia, Deputy Commonwealth Attorney / Suffolk
Thomas Shaia is a Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in the City of Suffolk and began working for this office in February 2016. He graduated from George Mason University in 1985 and from Case Western Reserve School of Law in 1988. Mr. Shaia has been a prosecutor since 1988. He started working for the City of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, and stayed there until 1993. In 1994, he began working for the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in Henrico County and stayed until 2002. In 2002, Mr. Shaia was appointed as the Chief Prosecutor for the Attorney General of Virginia Financial Crime Intelligence Center. Along with others he started the program and he stayed in the office until 2004. In 2004, Mr. Shaia began working for the County of Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, was appointed Deputy in 2006, and stayed there until 2016. He is an avid teacher and lecturer, has lectured on many topics including asset forfeiture, ethics, money laundering, racketeering, and search and seizure, and assists in teaching the Top Gun program and Gang Busters program for prosecutors and law enforcement in Virginia. Mr. Shaia was honored with the Warren Von Schuch Award for Distinguished Prosecutor by the Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys Association in 2010. Mr. Shaia also received the 2018 Michael R. Doucette Lecturer of Merit Award issued by the Commonwealth's Attorneys' Services Council in August 2018. This award is "in recognition of exceptional leadership and commitment to the training of Virginia's prosecutors."