Bobby\\\'s Burgers/US District Court Josh Lorence (l) and Judge Aileen Cannon (r).
Josh Lorence is a Florida restaurant executive who is the husband of federal Judge Aileen Cannon.
Cannon has been randomly assigned to preside over the classified documents criminal case against former President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported. She is a Trump appointee, whose previous ruling involving a special master in the case, which was favorable to Trump, was overturned by a conservative appellate panel.
Cannon is a former prosecutor, according to her questionnaire to the U.S. Senate.
According to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Judge Aileen M. Cannon works out of the Alto Lee Adams, Sr. United States Courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. When Josh Lorence Proposed to Aileen Cannon on a Trip to Athens, His Proposal Was Interrupted By a Turtle
Bobby\’s BurgersJosh Lorence
A story on the couple’s wedding in The Knot chronicles Lorence’s proposal to Cannon.
The article reported that Cannon, then a 28-year-old attorney, received a proposal from Josh Lorence, her boyfriend of five years, while they were vacationing in Athens. The story described Lorence as a 27-year-old restaurant manager at the time.
Lorence became distracted during the proposal by a “huge turtle” that walked past them, the story says. They were married in a “traditional wedding” in Coconut Grove, Florida, the article says.
His father’s obituary indicates that Lorence has roots in Michigan.
2. Josh Lorence Is a Restaurant Executive Who Works for Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay
GettyPhoto by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Lorence is an executive for Bobby’s Burgers, which is celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s restaurant chain, the chain’s website says.
Bobby’s Burgers’ website described Lorence as an “experienced restaurant operations executive with a demonstrated record of success leading and growing start-up and established quick-service and fast casual brands.”
Bobby’s Burgers’ website described Lorence as the chief operating officer of the brand. He started working in that role for Bobby’s Burgers Palace in 2015 and now serves as that position for Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay.
He oversees “all operations, training, supply chain, and brand innovation,” the website says.
Previously, Lorence served as director of operations and development and chief operating officer for Burgerfi International LLR, growing the company from “two units to more than 60,” the website says.
He was previously founder and managing partner for AIM Restaurant Consulting, in Washington D.C., focusing on “QSR and fast casual concepts.”
He worked for brands including Bon Chon Chicken, Elevation Burger, and Jimmy John’s, providing operations and “growth strategies,” according to Bobby’s Burgers.
An old Twitter account in his name has no tweets, and he followed only one page, an establishment called Brisk Bodega. His LinkedIn page is deleted.
3. Aileen Cannon & Her Husband Have 2 Children Together
Lorence and Cannon have two children, The Times reported. Heavy is not naming the children to protect their privacy.
Cannon received a bachelor’s degree from Duke University in 2003, and her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 2007, FJC.gov wrote.
The couple lives in Florida, according to her Senate questionnaire. Public records say the couple lives in a home worth over $1 million, but Heavy is withholding more details on it for the judge’s privacy.
4. Aileen Cannon’s Mother Escaped Cuba, But She Was Born in Colombia
US District CourtAileen Cannon.
According to FJC.gov, Cannon was born in 1981 in Cali, Colombia.
At her Judiciary Committee hearing, she said that her maternal grandparents “were forced to leave everything they had. They taught me always to be thankful for this country and to cherish our constitutional democracy,” according to The Times.
According to The Times, she grew up in Miami. Her mother Mercedes Cubas had fled Cuba “as a young girl after the 1959 Communist revolution,” and the family of her father, Michael Cannon, had roots in Indiana.
She graduated from a private school in Coconut Grove, Florida, where she played water polo and was considered “popular and studious,” the Times reported.
Alejandro Miyar, a lawyer who knew Cannon in school and worked for the Obama administration, wrote a letter supporting her nomination that called her “personable and trustworthy, a genuinely caring person,” the Times reported.
5. Aileen Cannon Was Nominated to the Federal Bench by Donald Trump in 2020
GettyDonald Trump.
According to Ballotpedia, Aileen Mercedes Cannon was nominated by President Donald Trump to the federal bench on May 21, 2020, and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 56-21 vote on November 12, 2020.
The Office of Senator Marco Rubio first contacted her about the federal judgeship, her questionnaire says.
Before her nomination, Cannon “was an assistant United States attorney, serving in the appellate section’s criminal division, in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida from 2013 to 2020,” Ballotpedia reported.
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