Ms. Julie Lastra
Julie Lastra was selected the Director for Internal Affairs (IA) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in October 2021. In this role, Lastra leads a comprehensive program focused on investigating allegations of employee misconduct, waste, fraud, abuse and/or mismanagement. Her extensive federal law enforcement experience, spanning over 20 years, makes her highly suited to lead IA initiatives.
As IA Director, Lastra oversees the initiation of inquiries and investigations into misconduct, fraud, waste and abuse of Agency resources. She conducts assessments of sensitive and complex problems and/or issues affecting FSIS as an organization. Lastra also coordinates with USDA’s Office of Inspector General, Office of General Counsel and individual program areas to report final case dispositions. These duties directly support FSIS’ Strategic Goals: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health, Modernize Inspection Systems, Policies, and the Use of Scientific and Achieve Operational Excellence.
Lastra joined FSIS in August 2020 as the Deputy Director for Congressional and Public Affairs Staff (CPAS) in the Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education (OPACE). She made significant contributions to OPACE, most notably serving as the Acting Director for CPAS for eight months.
Prior to joining FSIS, Lastra was a federal agent for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 1997. She held prominent positions during her tenure at EPA, including serving as a Senior Special Agent in the Office of Professional Integrity and Quality Assurance where she conducted internal affairs investigations and office inspections for the entire criminal enforcement program. Lastra also served as the Acting Deputy Director for EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training. In that role she led a team of 350+ law enforcement, scientific, and legal professionals across the country. She led EPA’s communications for the criminal enforcement program where she directed the program's strategic planning, enforcement analysis, and internal and external communications on criminal enforcement cases and results. Lastra was also responsible for EPA’s international criminal program serving as the Agency’s representative to INTERPOL in Lyon, France, and as lead faculty for environmental crimes training for the Department of State’s International Law Enforcement Academies in Bangkok, Thailand and Budapest, Hungary.
Lastra graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Michigan State University with a degree in International Relations.