A veteran prosecutor in the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office has been named supervisor of the narcotics unit.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph R. Stauffer, who has been in the office since 2004, supervises a unit that includes five other attorneys.Stauffer approves most of the search warrants for the drug unit, manages forfeitures for the unit and approves most of the felony criminal complaints involving drug prosecutions.Stauffer, who has been in the unit for 12 years, works with Allentown and municipal police departments, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office Drug Task Force and the FBI.Stauffer received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Moravian College in 1990 and a master's degree in business administration from Moravian in 1994.He received his law degree from Widener University School of Law in 2003.He interned in the District Attorney's Office and also worked for 15 years as a purchasing agent at Knoll in Montgomery County. He also worked as a purchasing agent at U.S. Gauge in Montgomery County.Stauffer has taught courses in crimes against property and persons, wiretap law, evidence and firearms at the Allentown Police Academy.He also teaches criminal law and procedure and legal research and writing at Northampton Community College."The office is fortunate to have an attorney with Joe Stauffer's wealth and breadth of knowledge," said District Attorney James B. Martin.