One of the nation's most prolific federal narcotics prosecutors flouted ethics rules last year when he drunkenly handed his business card to Florida police investigating a hit-and-run crash, a Justice Department watchdog found.
Between 2018 and 2022, the Coast Guard removed or destroyed 888 metric tons of cocaine worth an estimated $26 billion and detained 2,776 suspected smugglers, a senior Coast Guard official said in congressional testimony last year. The bulk of those cases were handled by Ruddy and his colleagues in Tampa, where PANEX is headquartered. A former Ironman triathlete, the 70-year-old Ruddy enjoys a reputation among attorneys for hard work and toughness in the courtroom.