A veteran agent with roots in northern Ohio was named today as special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh branch.

Scott S. Smith replaces Doug Perdue, who held the post for nearly two years and is leaving for an assignment in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Smith is leaving a job at FBI headquarters as chief of the Employee Services Section in the Human Resources Division, according to an FBI press release.

Mr. Smith was a deputy sheriff in Lake County, Ohio, before he became an agent in 1996, assigned to Cleveland's violent crimes desk. His focus in Cleveland was on drug trafficking organizations.

Mr. Smith then did a stint in the FBI headquarters International Terrorism Operations Section, managing the bureau's international terrorism investigations in several field offices. He led a contingent of agents, analysts and language specialists in Iraq in 2005, then went back to that country in 2008 as the deputy on-scene commander.

In between those deployments, he led the Toledo, Sandusky and Lima office. In 2011, he became assistant special agent in charge in Dallas, managing the Intelligence and White Collar Crime Programs.

First Published: April 14, 2014, 9:58 p.m.