Senior Leadership
Steven Popps
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Steven Popps serves as Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia. From January 2022 to May 2024, Steven served as Deputy Attorney General for the Civil Division. Prior to joining Attorney General Miyares' administration, Popps was a litigation partner at an international law firm. He previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Henry E. Hudson, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, and served on the staff of the late U.S. Senator John Warner of Virginia. Steven is a graduate of College of William & Mary and the College of William & Mary School of Law, where he was a lead articles editor for the William & Mary Law Review.
Klarke Kilgore
Chief of Staff
Klarke Kilgore previously served as Chief of External Affairs within Attorney General Miyares’ office. Prior to his role at the office, he served as the Campaign Manager for Miyares during the 2021 race for Attorney General. For this role, he was awarded the 2021 American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) Republican Campaign Manager of the Year. Kilgore served in the White House as an Associate Director in the Office of Political Affairs and as the Deputy Director of Appointments in the Presidential Personnel Office. Previously, he worked for Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) and at Data Trust. He was born in Southwest Virginia, raised in Richmond, and is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Theo Stamos
Deputy Attorney General: Criminal
Theo Stamos began her career as a prosecutor in 1987 in the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, capping off her career there as the elected CA from 2012 to 2019. She comes to our team from the U.S. Department of Justice where she has served in both the Trump and Biden Administrations as a state and local law enforcement liaison in the Office of Legislative Affairs. Her husband, Craig Esherick, is the former head men's basketball coach at Georgetown University and current professor of sport management at George Mason University.
Thomas Sanford
Deputy Attorney General: Civil Litigation
Before overseeing the Civil Division as a Deputy Attorney General, Thomas Sanford served as an Assistant Attorney General. Prior to joining Attorney General Miyares’ administration, Thomas worked as an attorney with the Virginia State Corporation Commission and as a litigator at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Thomas is a product of Virginia institutions having graduated from Washington & Lee University and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Leslie Haley
Deputy Attorney General: Government Operations and Transactions
Leslie is a Richmond-area attorney and former member of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors. She has been practicing law in Virginia for over two decades and brings a unique combination of legal and business skills from her years of experience in private practice following her service as Senior Assistant Ethics Counsel at the Virginia State Bar, and her tenure in management and business development with Philip Morris, U.S.A. Leslie's former practice focused on advising lawyers and law firms across the state and nation on the application and implication of ethical quandaries and risk management issues. Additionally, she consulted on law office practice management including policies and procedures and served as an expert on the Rules of Professional Conduct. During her 14 year term with the Virginia State Bar, Ms. Haley provided ethics consultation to members of the Bar, answering hundreds of ethics calls each year, drafting written advisory ethics opinions, and writing and speaking on ethics issues as they relate to lawyers and law firms' practices. She writes and has presented over 200 CLE seminars to her colleagues and associates. Additionally, Ms. Haley has worked extensively with the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, Court Improvement Program in developing and presenting educational workshops geared specifically to the Juvenile Court system to provide "best practices” to assist lawyers and judges in the important work they do with children and families. Leslie's credentials also include service on the Board of Supervisors in Chesterfield County representing the Midlothian District and in 2010 she received the Influential Women of Virginia Award.
Rob Bell
Deputy Attorney General: Health, Education, and Social Services
Prior to being elected as a member of the House of Delegates in 2001, Rob Bell served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Orange County. As a Delegate, Rob served as Chair of the Courts of Justice Committee and was appointed to the Virginia State Crime Commission. He also served as a member of the Health, Welfare and Institutions (HWI) Committee, the Education Committee, and the Behavioral Health Commission. In recognition of his work as a Delegate, Rob received awards from numerous groups including Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD-Virginia), the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and the Psychiatric Society of Virginia. Rob is an honors graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Law School, where he served as executive editor of the Virginia Law Review. Rob lives in Albemarle County with his wife, Jessica, and their two children.
Amanda McGuire
Special Counsel for Opinions
Amanda McGuire is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Washington and Lee University School of Law. Amanda returns to the Virginia Office of Attorney General after clerking for recently elected Virginia Supreme Court Justice Wesley G. Russell, Jr. She began clerking for Justice Russell in 2015 when he was elected to the Virginia Court of Appeals. Prior to this experience, Amanda worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Opinions Section at the OAG. Her legal career began at the Chesterfield County Circuit Court, where she served as a judicial law clerk.
Ryan Ferguson
General Counsel and Director of Administration
Prior to joining the Miyares’ administration to serve as General Counsel, Ryan Ferguson worked as a partner in a litigation firm where he focused on complex civil litigation. He also previously served as a prosecutor and was associated with one of Virginia’s largest law firms. Ryan has regularly been recognized by publications as a “super lawyer” and “legal elite.” He served two terms as a member of the Virginia State Bar Council and is a past-president of the Virginia Beach Bar Association. He currently serves on the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. Ryan is a graduate of James Madison University and Regent University School of Law.
Mike Costigan
Senior Director of Programs and Outreach
Mike Costigan joined the Attorney General’s office in December 2022 and has been a Presidential appointee of the Department of Justice in three separate Administrations. Mike has also worked for two Virginia Governors. He was appointed by Virginia Governor George Allen to serve as a Special Assistant to the Governor, working in the office of the Secretary of Natural Resources. Governor Jim Gilmore appointed Mike to run Virginia Exile, the Administration’s statewide gun violence reduction effort. Mike used the success of his program to help develop a national model for then Presidential candidate George W. Bush. It became known as Project Safe Neighborhoods and was adopted by President Bush as his signature crime reduction program.
Mark Fero
Director of Crime Reduction Initiatives
Mark Fero currently serves as the Director of Crime Reduction Initiatives in the Executive and Administration Division for the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia where he provides program and financial oversight to federal- and state-funded grant programs. After college he joined the Army and was recruited by the Honor Guard, 3rd U.S. Infantry ("The Old Guard" Escort to the President) as a Finance Specialist. In addition to serving on the Governor's Advisory Board on Volunteerism and National Service, he serves the community as the Chair of the Richmond Police Foundation Board, an Advisory Member for the National Center for the Prevention of Community Violence, Director on the Virginia Public Safety Foundation and as the Treasurer for the Virginia Service Foundation.