María del Carmen Pérez received a B.A. (Cum Laude) and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus.  After graduating from law school, María served in as US Army Officer in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corp (Active Duty) from 1984-1987.  Upon her return to Puerto Rico, she joined the US Army Reserves as a Captain.  Also upon her return to Puerto Rico María was an Attorney for Puerto Rico’s Justice Department, Federal Litigation Division. In 1988, María accepted an attorney’s position in the Legal Department of the Puerto Rico Telephone Company. In that capacity, in addition to handling contracts, she was the legal advisor for the Marketing Division and also handled arbitration cases.

In 1990, María became a United States Postal Inspector, a federal law enforcement position.  After extensive training, she was assigned to the white collar crime investigations section in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  She was involved in numerous investigations and was held in high regard by the US Attorney’s Office (Puerto Rico).

In 1996, she was promoted to “Postal Inspector/Attorney” and relocated to the Washington, DC area.  In this position she handled forfeitures cases, managed the national mail cover program, served on the personnel security committee, and litigated cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  In 2003, María was asked to join the, then newly formed, Federal Air Marshal Service as a federal law enforcement manager and she is currently the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the Investigations Branch.   María is married to Justo Díaz and they have 4 children.  She is also a member of PRAWL. Maria is a proficient cook and loves to bake.