Hennepin Co. contract with D.C. lawyers for Londregan prosecution could cost up to $1M
MINNEAPOLIS — The Hennepin County Attorney's office has entered into a contract with a Washington D.C.-based law firm amid an internal shakeup to prosecute Ryan Londregan, who shot and killed Ricky Cobb II on an interstate last summer.
The county's lead prosecutor on the case, Joshua Larson, stepped away from the role, sources confirmed to WCCO News last week. In the wake of his departure, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty's office said she was "assembling a new prosecution team" to handle what they called and "extraordinary resource intensive case."
The contract, which was released on Friday, says attorneys from Steptoe LLP will be paid an $850 hourly blended rate, and paralegals will be paid $250 hourly. The contract expires on Dec. 31 of 2025 and expenses will not exceed $1 million, though the contract notes that when fees hit $750,000, the law firm will notify Moriarty's office so it can request funds from the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners.
"Our goal in this case, as in every case, is to achieve a just process and outcome, public transparency, and accountability for the harm that has been caused," Moriarty said.
The move to hire outside legal council was met with criticism, with legal experts saying that it's an uncommon decision, considering the HCAO is the largest public law office in Minnesota, with more than 200 attorneys on staff. Moriarty says her office will fund the team through this year's existing budget.
Londregan killed Cobb, who was 33, during a traffic stop on Interstate 94. He was pulled over for not having his tail lights on, officials said, and he was wanted by Ramsey County law enforcement for violating a no-contact order in a domestic case.
Moriarty's office charged him with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter, though she's been accused of ignoring a police use-of-force expert's legal opinion on the case. Moriarty said the expert did not reach any legal conclusion, and the conversation was preliminary.
Since then, Moriarty has faced criticism from Gov. Tim Walz, who himself faces pressure from the largest police association in Minnesota to reassign the case to the attorney general — a rare move, though one that Walz has made previously.
Walz said he has been watching the case closely and hasn't "shut the door" to rerouting the case.
Moriarty's office first entered conversations with Steptoe on April 22. The lead attorney for the case, Karima Maloney, previously served as the deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division's criminal section, handling official misconduct, human trafficking, and hate crime prosecutions.
