Ralph Sozio was appointed on December 5, 2019, as the 46th United States Marshal for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

A graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Marshal Sozio’s career in Law Enforcement spans over thirty years, beginning with the Westchester County Public Safety Emergency Force. In 1997, he joined the New York City Police Department and was assigned to the 45th Precinct in the Bronx, NY.

On September 11th, 2001, Police Officer Sozio responded to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. Over the next few months, he spent long days at “Ground Zero” assisting in recovery operations with other law enforcement and first responders.

In March 2002, U.S. Marshal Sozio joined the United States Secret Service where he enjoyed an illustrious career working in the Bank Fraud, Electronic Crimes Task Force, Counterfeit Undercover Operations and Protective Operations. He led the protective security planning and operations for a high volume of visits by the President of the United States, and foreign Heads of State and Government in the New York metropolitan area, served as the protection liaison to state, local, and federal law enforcement, government, business, and media leaders. Assignments included Pope Benedict’s Yankee Stadium visit and later, Pope Francis’ visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC, among other high level protection assignments. He prepared the security plan for then Presidential candidate Trump’s residence and later supervised the security detail for President Trump’s residence and the First Family Operations in New York City.

U.S. Marshal Sozio is responsible for the principal oversight of the United States Marshals Service Southern District of New York Office, all investigative, protective, and administrative matters for the district which encompass Manhattan, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Sullivan Counties with a populace of approximately 5.1 million people. He was directly responsible for developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships with all federal law enforcement agencies, state and local police departments and United States Attorney’s Office and served as the Federal liaison to the federal government agencies in the district, business, media, and many civic leaders.

The National Police Defense Foundation is proud to present U.S. Marshal Ralph Sozio with our Lifetime Achievement Award.