Montgomery County ADA's

ADA Califano joined the District Attorney’s office in January 2017. He is tasked with prosecuting crimes against revenue (CARP) matters, such as welfare fraud, insurance fraud, and tax fraud. He also prosecutes all misdemeanors, violations, and traffic violations (excluding DWI/ DWAI offenses) in the City of Amsterdam Court, Town of Florida Court, and Village of Canajoharie Court.

A lifelong Montgomery County resident, ADA Califano returned home after graduating from Syracuse University with a B.A. in Political Science in 2006, and Syracuse University College of Law in 2009. He was admitted to practice law in New York State in January 2010. Upon his admission, he entered private practice in Amsterdam where he focused his practice criminal defense, insurance defense, and personal injury litigation. He previously served as Montgomery County Assistant Public Defender, joining that office in January 2015 after having represented indigent criminal defendants as a member of the County’s assigned counsel panel from 2010-2015.

In his duties as CARP prosecutor, ADA Califano has successfully recovered over $299,000 in taxpayer money, including over $248,000 in fraudulently obtained public assistance and SNAP (food stamp) benefits.

Outside of his duties with Montgomery County, ADA Califano serves on the boards of directors of several local not-for-profits and has previously served on a number of volunteer boards for the City of Amsterdam.

ADA Melita joined the District Attorney’s office in February of 2020. He is tasked with prosecuting misdemeanors, violations and traffic infractions in many Town and Village Courts throughout the County. ADA Melita obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from Plattsburgh State University with a degree in Political Science. He continued his education at the Auburn Hills campus of Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he graduated with Honors.

After graduating, ADA Melita worked for a short period with a large firm Downstate, before returning to Upstate New York to open his own practice.

He has been practicing for nearly a decade, seven of those years being on his own. He is well versed in criminal, family and matrimonial law, as well as property law and civil litigation. ADA Melita is licensed to practice in New York and New Jersey and is an active member of the Montgomery County Bar Association.

ADA Melita left private practice to join the District Attorney’s office in order to focus solely on criminal law and serve the Public.

ADA Pearson joined the District Attorney’s office in January 2017. As the DWI Prosecutor, she is tasked with prosecuting all crimes related to drinking and/or drugged driving. She also prosecutes all misdemeanors, violations and traffic infractions in the Town of Root and the Town of Minden.

After graduating from New England School of Law, (Boston) in 2004 she moved to Washington State and was admitted to practice in Washington in 2006. In 2013 she was admitted to practice in New York State and entered private practice. In 2015, she opened her private office in Amsterdam, New York. Experienced in matters in Family, Supreme, Surrogate and Criminal Courts, she handled matters such as custody, visitation, matrimonial, guardianship, as well as criminal defense.

She was a member of the assigned counsel panel representing indigent persons for both Family and Criminal Court matters (2013-2019) as well as a panel member for Attorneys for Children (2013-present). In 2016, she served as an Assistant Public Defender in Montgomery County prior to joining the District Attorney’s office.