Joseph M. Demarest, Jr. – Assistant Director, Cyber Division

As a veteran of the FBI, Joseph Demarest has worked a variety of investigative matters, including counterterrorism, white-collar crime, organized crime/drugs, violent crime, and foreign counterintelligence. He has held a number of supervisory and leadership positions at FBI Headquarters and in the field, including his former position as head of the International Operations Division. In this role, he was responsible for leading the FBI’s international and overseas law enforcement operations, liaison, and training efforts and, as such, managed over 600 employees in 75 foreign and domestic locations.

Mr. Demarest began his career with the FBI as a special agent in 1988. Upon graduation from new agent training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Mr. Demarest was assigned to the Anchorage Division, where he investigated white-collar crime, drug, violent crime, and foreign counterintelligence matters. In 1990, he transferred to the New York Division, where he was assigned to a Colombian drug squad. He was promoted to squad supervisor in 1999, and was selected as the division’s SWAT team leader. In 2000, Mr. Demarest was selected to serve as the drug branch’s acting assistant special agent in charge. In this capacity, he oversaw seven active drug squads comprised of more than 150 agents, task force officers, and support personnel. He also worked closely with New York and New Jersey High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area executives in the development of New York City’s first Regional Intelligence Center (RIC). The RIC consisted of five sections with more than 550 representatives from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

After 9/11, Mr. Demarest served as a shift commander for the PENTTBOM investigation. He led a task force of more than 400 federal, state, and local investigators from more than 40 disparate agencies investigating the terrorist incidents. In 2002, Mr. Demarest was selected to lead a team of FBI personnel deployed to the joint task force at the U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This team conducted interviews, threat assessments, and analysis critical to the FBI’s counterterrorism and intelligence mission.

Mr. Demarest was promoted to unit chief at FBI Headquarters in 2002, where he served in the International Terrorism Operations Section (ITOS) within the Counterterrorism Division. In 2003, he was promoted to assistant section chief of ITOS. He later served as an acting section chief in ITOS until he was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the New York Division’s international terrorism branch. He was later selected as the special agent in charge for counterterrorism and served in that role until early 2008.

Mr. Demarest briefly left public service to work as a managing director for the Americas with Goldman Sachs and Company in their Office of Global Security.

In December 2008, Mr. Demarest returned to the FBI after being appointed by Director Mueller to the position of assistant director in charge of the New York Division. During his tenure, Mr. Demarest oversaw several major investigations, including the terrorism investigation OPERATION HIGHRISE, the Bernard Madoff case, and the piracy investigation of MV Maersk Alabama.

Mr. Demarest was appointed assistant director of the Cyber Division in June 2012.

Mr. Demarest has been the recipient of the Attorney General’s Award as well as the Director’s Award. He is also a 2012 IRONMAN Wisconsin finisher.

Prior to entering the FBI, Mr. Demarest was employed for five years as a deputy sheriff for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department in Florida.