Federal prosecutor Brandon Marshall has resigned as director of financial litigation to form a law firm with Lexington defense attorney Patrick F. Nash, the two said in a news release.

Marshall spent five years at the U.S. Attorney's Office litigating mortgage and health care fraud, kickbacks, banking crimes and computer offenses.

Among the people Marshall prosecuted were Bendrea Wilson, who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the local charity Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, he said in the release. Most recently, Marshall said, he assisted with the prosecution of Michael and Christopher Smith and their co-conspirators, all of whom were sentenced in 2012 for high-pressure sales of fraudulent oil and gas interests totaling more than $15 million through their company, Target Oil and Gas.

Nash is known for his representation of Charles Allen, one of four college students convicted in connection with a rare-book heist at Transylvania University. He also represents accused Bosnian war criminal Azra Bašic; Steve Ward, the former Woodford County Coroner convicted of sexual misconduct; and Ibrahimshah Shahulhameed, the computer programmer recently accused of sabotaging Toyota's Georgetown computer system.

The firm, Nash Marshall PLLC, will be on Short Street in Lexington and will focus on criminal defense and the representation of professionals who are accused of poor judgment.