The Five Hundred and Forty-First Meeting
of the
Worcester Economic Club
Will be held at the
Beechwood Hotel, Worcester MA
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Reception and Networking, 5:30 pm; Dinner, 6:30 pm

RICHARD DESLAURIERS

Richard DesLauriers entered on duty as a Special Agent with the FBI in January 1987.  Upon completion of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, he was assigned to the Birmingham Division where he worked violent crime and fugitive matters, and then began his career in Counterintelligence.  He was transferred to the New York Office in December 1990, where he continued to work Counterintelligence matters.  In 1995, Mr. DesLauriers was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent within the Eurasian Section of the National Security Branch at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In December, 1997, Mr. DesLauriers transferred to the Boston Division where he supervised Counterintelligence investigations and served as the division’s Counterintelligence Program Coordinator.  Mr. DesLauriers was designated an Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Division in 2003, overseeing the Counterintelligence Program as well as the division’s Administrative programs.

Mr. DesLauriers was promoted to Section Chief of the Global Section, Counterintelligence Division, in February, 2005.  In this capacity he was responsible for national program management of counterintelligence and espionage investigations.  In April 2006, he was designated as Special Agent in Charge of the Counterintelligence Division in the New York Office.  In March 2008, Mr. DesLauriers served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division at FBI Headquarters, where he was responsible for FBI counterintelligence operations and espionage investigations nationwide.

In July 2010, Mr. DesLauriers was designated the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Division, which is the agency’s 10th largest office and covers Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.  In this position, he lead a cadre of over 550 FBI Agents, Intelligence Analysts, and Professional Support personnel responsible for the investigation of terrorism, espionage, and criminal matters in this geographic region.  

During his FBI career, Mr. DesLauriers was a member of the leadership team which in 2010 arrested and prosecuted a Russian spy network which had operated covertly inside the United States for over a decade (Operation GHOST STORIES).  He also led the FBI Boston Division during its successful capture in June 2011 of FBI Top Ten Fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger, as well as during the dramatic hunt in April 2013 for the Boston Marathon Bombers (101 Hours that Shook the World).

In July 2013, Mr. DesLauriers retired after 26 ½ years service with the FBI, and he currently serves as Vice President – Corporate Security with Penske Corporation in Bloomfield Hills, MI.

Mr. DesLauriers is a native of Longmeadow, Massachusetts.  He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Assumption College, and a Juris Doctor degree from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.  He is married and has a son.

The 541st meeting is sponsored by Assumption College.