Member Spotlight: Sabrina Fève

A Career Built on Grit, Service, and Making the Law Work for Those Who Need It Most

For Assistant United States Attorney Sabrina Fève, public service has never been simply a job. It is a calling—and one she has pursued with equal parts determination, compassion, and grit.

A federal prosecutor since 2007, Sabrina has built a career defined by taking on difficult problems, challenging conventional approaches, and using the law to create meaningful change. From human trafficking and cybercrime to fraud, environmental protection, and complex federal kidnapping cases, her work has consistently focused on protecting vulnerable communities and strengthening the justice system.

A Leader in a Changing Legal Landscape

Sabrina has spent much of her career at the intersection of law and technology.

As digital evidence and cybersecurity transformed criminal investigations, she became one of the early women leaders in the field, developing an expertise that would take her well beyond the courtroom. For nearly a decade, she was one of the relatively few women working at the forefront of cybersecurity law, and she quickly became known for her ability to translate complex technological issues into practical legal strategies.

Sabrina did not keep that knowledge to herself.

She has trained prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges across the country through CLEs, workshops, and national conferences. Her work has also taken her abroad, including teaching intellectual property rights in Peru, and presenting national security trainings in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Macedonia.

For Sabrina, however, leadership is less about being the person with the answers and more about making sure other people have the tools to find them.

That philosophy is especially evident in her commitment to young lawyers. As senior litigation counsel at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she regularly trains colleagues and mentors newer attorneys, sharing lessons drawn from years of trial experience in cases involving cyberstalking, identity theft, and money laundering.

Her mentorship extends beyond the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Through the Federal Bar Association, affinity bar organizations, and her work as a “Master,” or team leader, for her Enright Inn of Court group, Sabrina has helped young attorneys build courtroom skills and, just as importantly, confidence.

She teaches. She answers questions. She creates opportunities. And she makes sure newer lawyers know that someone is in their corner.

Protecting Communities—One Case at a Time

Early in her career, Sabrina recognized a troubling disconnect in the way the justice system treated individuals involved in sex work. She saw firsthand how trafficking victims could become entangled in a system that treated them as offenders rather than recognizing the coercion and exploitation they had endured.

Instead of accepting that as the status quo, Sabrina helped spearhead innovative approaches that shifted the prosecutorial focus toward traffickers and away from punishing victims. Sabrina changed how survivors experienced the justice system. People who once viewed prosecutors as another source of fear or punishment could instead see the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a place where they could find support, accountability, and a path toward justice.

Sabrina’s public service is perhaps most visible in the cases she continues to pursue.

For instance, Sabrina has prosecuted more than 50 defendants for EBT fraud targeting families who rely on public assistance. At a time when these cases were not being prosecuted in many federal districts, Sabrina recognized the devastating impact that this type of fraud could have on families already living on the financial edge.

Her work helped create a significant deterrent effect in San Diego and effectively shut down a particular avenue of withdrawal fraud.

Her cybercrime prosecutions similarly focused on protecting people who were often the least equipped to protect themselves from sophisticated criminal schemes.

Her work has also taken her into the courtroom on behalf of victims of some of the most serious crimes. In a recent federal kidnapping prosecution, Sabrina confronted complex and largely untested legal issues, conducting extensive research and developing innovative arguments that helped establish a framework for future cases.

A Passion for Protecting the World Outside the Courtroom

Sabrina’s commitment to public service extends beyond traditional criminal prosecution. She has played a role in cases involving endangered species, including the prosecution that helped save six protected baby spider monkeys from illegal trafficking.

Her environmental commitment continues outside the courtroom. She supports the Nature Collective, which works to conserve and restore North County San Diego’s sensitive lagoon ecosystems, and advocates for Outdoor Outreach, a nonprofit that gives inner-city youth opportunities to experience and enjoy the outdoors.

For Sabrina, protecting communities means protecting the places—and the people—that make those communities worth fighting for.

Grit, Philadelphia Style

Perhaps the best way to understand Sabrina is to look at where she comes from. Sabrina credits her Philadelphia roots for shaping her approach to life and law: tough but fair, relentless but compassionate.

And then there is Gritty. Sabrina sees something familiar in the famously unconventional Philadelphia Flyers mascot: an unapologetic willingness to push boundaries.

Gritty is, after all, not your typical mascot.

Neither is Sabrina your typical federal prosecutor.

She has spent her career asking whether the justice system can do better—and then doing the work necessary to make it happen. She has challenged conventional approaches, embraced difficult cases, mentored those coming behind her, and shared her expertise with lawyers around the country and the world.

Through it all, she has built a career not around titles or recognition, but around making things better—for victims, for colleagues, for young lawyers, and for the communities she serves.