Maria Chapa Lopez has been named Interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.

A Department of Justice news release says her appoint will take effect Friday.

Chapa Lopez has worked in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida since April 2000. She prosecuted drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering cases until April 2016, when she became the DOJ deputy attache in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, she served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps.

Chapa Lopez received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas, her law degree from South Texas College of Law and her master's in law from the Judge Advocate General's School, in Charlottesville, Virginia.