New Las Vegas FBI chief has memorable first day

Kevin Favreau was supposed to take over as special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas division on Jan. 4, but that Monday morning, he stayed home sick instead.

Shortly after deciding to postpone his first day on the job, Favreau received a phone call and some shocking news: A gunman had just opened fire inside the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas.

With the help of his BlackBerry, he quickly learned more details: The assailant had acted alone and had been killed in an ensuing gunbattle.

"There was really no need for me to come in," Favreau said.

When he reported to work the following morning, not yet fully recovered from his illness, he was informed that he would be leading a news conference outside the federal courthouse. Favreau would later call it an "interesting way to break yourself in on the first day."

"Basically, in my first three hours, I was meeting the sheriff, the U.S. attorney and the U.S. marshal," he said.

The shooting, which left a court security officer dead and a deputy U.S. marshal wounded, made national news. At the news conference, Favreau told reporters the gunman was motivated by an "overwhelming anger toward the United States government."

During an interview Friday in his Las Vegas office, Favreau discussed his new position and his lengthy FBI career. He said his first day on the job in Las Vegas serves as an example of the type of work he was seeking when he left FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he had been assistant director of the Directorate of Intelligence since April 2008. He previously served as deputy assistant director for operations support in the counterintelligence division at FBI headquarters.

Those assigned to a field office get hands-on experience with criminal investigations and operations, Favreau said, while those who work at headquarters focus on strategy and programs and "kind of live vicariously."

"It's exciting to be in the field," Favreau said. "To me, it's what every agent aspires to."

During his 27-year career with the FBI, he has spent about 17 years in the field.

"I still consider myself to be more of a field guy than a headquarters guy," Favreau said.

Grant Ashley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Las Vegas division from early 1999 to early 2002, said Favreau held a key position at headquarters. The two never worked together, but Ashley said he has met Favreau several times.

Ashley, now vice president of global security for Merck & Co. in New Jersey, described Favreau as sharp and caring. He also described Favreau as a collaborator who is "well-respected internally and externally."

Favreau replaces Steve Martinez, who ran the Las Vegas division for three years. When Martinez was named assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, Favreau decided to apply for the Las Vegas position.

Favreau, 49, was working in a high-pressure job with long hours and had been wanting to move out West and return to a field office.

He had become acquainted with the Las Vegas area during the previous six years while attending the annual John Bailey Memorial Golf Tournament, dedicated to the memory of an FBI agent who was killed in 1990 while attempting to prevent a bank robbery in Las Vegas.

Favreau's wife, Cynthia, also liked the idea of moving to Las Vegas. Both were FBI employees when they met, but Cynthia Favreau later became an elementary school teacher.

"Now she's just a golf fanatic," her husband joked. The couple have two dogs and no children.

Favreau, a native of Massachusetts, received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and political science in 1983 from Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I.

"My general conception growing up was that I wanted to stop bad guys from doing bad things," he said.

Favreau said two of his college instructors were former FBI agents and piqued his interest in becoming an agent.

He began his employment with the FBI in October 1983 as a support employee in the agency's Boston division and later served as an intelligence information system analyst.

Three nights a week, he attended law school, hoping a law degree would lead him on the path to becoming an agent. He also began a computer romance with an FBI employee in Indianapolis.

"At that time, we could communicate internally via our intelligence systems," Favreau said.

The two supported opposing teams in the 1986 Super Bowl, and a bet on the game led Favreau to visit his soon-to-be-wife in Indianapolis. First, they spoke on the phone and exchanged pictures. In 1987, they were married.

Favreau received a degree from the New England School of Law in Boston in 1988. The same year, he was selected as a special agent.

He spent the next eight years in the Pittsburgh division, where he primarily handled counterespionage, counterintelligence and counterterrorism matters.

In 1996, Favreau became a supervisor in the national security division's operational training unit at FBI headquarters. In 1999, he transferred to the Portland division, where he had supervisory oversight of all FBI investigations in the state of Oregon concerning domestic terrorism, international terrorism, computer intrusions and counterintelligence.

As part of an interagency strategic counterintelligence effort, Favreau joined the Central Intelligence Agency in September 2001 as chief of staff of the newly created Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive.

In May 2002, Favreau was named assistant section chief of the newly created counterespionage section at FBI headquarters. In June 2003, he was named assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco division, where he oversaw FBI counterintelligence operations in northern California and the Silicon Valley. Favreau was selected to be chief of the counterespionage section at FBI headquarters in November 2004.

From August 2005 until June 2006, Favreau served as chief of the newly created counterintelligence strategy and domain section at FBI headquarters. From July 2006 until January 2008, he served as special agent in charge of the Washington field office counterintelligence program.

In his most recent position at headquarters, Favreau joined FBI Director Robert Mueller daily for briefings on the results of investigations at the agency's 56 field offices. Those briefings primarily focused on issues of counterterrorism, which is the FBI's top priority.

Favreau said he brings to Nevada "a keen understanding of what it takes from an intelligence perspective to work the problems of threat." That means identifying threats and disseminating information about those threats to people who need it.

Although Las Vegas has sites that could appeal to terrorists, Favreau said, "I don't feel that Las Vegas is any bigger of a target than any other area based on what we know about the intentions of our adversaries."

Mortgage fraud also will remain a priority of the division under Favreau's leadership. Twelve of the division's approximately 130 agents are assigned exclusively to mortgage fraud investigations.

Favreau said he already has learned that "everybody's bad guys come to Las Vegas." For that reason, he said, FBI agents in Las Vegas often are asked to watch or catch suspects from other jurisdictions.

Ashley said that's because Las Vegas is not just a great place for business meetings.

"We also know that criminals, spies and terrorists have used Vegas to meet," he said.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.