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Samuel Alba is a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

Early Life and Education
Samuel Alba was born in the 1947. He is married to Anne Swensen, and has four children, along with four grandchildren. Alba graduated from Utah State University in 1969 with a degree in political science. He attended law school at Arizona State University, graduating in 1972. Alba has said that the people who have had the most influence on his life were, “My parents, who always encouraged me to seek education."

Legal career
From 1972 to 1977 Alba worked with the Federal Public Defenders' Office in Pheonix, Arizona, and from 1977 to 1980 he worked at the Pheonix firm of Gama, Iniguez, Guerrero & Albaal. Alba's practice focused on personal injury and criminal defense. From 1980 to 1987, Alba worked as first assistant and then chief of the criminal section at the United State's attorney's office in Salt Lake City, Utah. In this arena Alba gained experience by prosecuting cases with a broad range of criminal statuses. Before becoming a federal magistrate judge in 1992, Alba was a shareholder at the Salt Lake City Law Firm of Yeates, Prince, and Geldzhaler from 1987 until 1992. While in this position, Alba concentrated on commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense cases in state courts and federal courts.

Judicial Career and Professional Service
Alba was selected as a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah in 1992. He was Chief Magistrate Judge for the District of Utah from 2003 to 2008. He serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on Defender Services, and is co-chair of the building committee for the District of Utah. He is currently a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Utah.

Awards and Recognitions
In 2009, Judge Samuel Alba was featured in the publication of Latinos In Utah, a book that recognizes contributions made in the State of Utah by Latinos, and celebrates the Latino spirit by displaying notable Latinos within the state. Alba was recognized because of his contribution to the law community as an attorney and judge.

On October 15, 2005, The Utah Minority Bar Association (UMBA) honored Alba as one of the First 50 minority lawyers in Utah. The UMBA honors minority men and women who overcome obstacles to make contributions to the law community.

Notable Case Involvement
Below are listed several notable court cases in which Samuel Alba was involved.

2008 Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping Trial
In 2008, Sam Alba was asked to review hospital records in order to determine the competency of Brian David Mitchell, the kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart in the court case United States of America VS. Brian David Mitchell, et al., Case No. 2:08CR125DAK. On June 5th, 2002, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her home in Federal Heights, and affluent neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah by Brian David Mitchell, in the infamous case of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. Nine months later, she was found in Sandy, Utah in the company of Mitchell, and Wanda Barzee. When charges were finally brought upon him, Mitchell acted out in court on multiple occasions, causing the defense to claim that he was not competent to stand trial, while the prosecution argued that his behavior was an act to avoid sentencing. On November 12th, 2008, Alba ordered Brian David Mitchell to undergo a mental competency examination to determine whether he was fit to stand trial. Judge Alba handled pretrial matters in the case before the case went before Judge Dale A. Kimball.

2009 Four Corners Artifacts Trafficking Case
In 2009 around two-dozen people from San Juan County, Utah faced federal charges of stealing ancient artifacts from public lands in the case United States vs. Rulon Kody Sommerville, Case No. 2:09CR00289DS, and United States vs. Kevin Shumway, Sharon Evette Shumway, and David A. Lacy, Case No. 2:09CR045TS. The persons in question were accused of trafficking ancient indian artifacts taken from public land, and were punishable up to a year in prison and extensive fines. Shumway was very helpful within the case, stating that he would tell the authorities, "anything they wanted to know." Though another man involved, Kevin A. Lacy, claimed that when authorities searched his house, they failed to inform him of his civil rights. Judge Alba sentenced two of the men, Rulon Kody Sommerville and Kevin Shumway to probation after a hearing in Moab, Utah.

2010 Bugman Pest and Lawn Trial
In February 2010, Bugman Pest and Lawn and their ex-employee Coleman Nocks faced federal charges of misapplying pesticide that was connected to the deaths of two young girls in Layton, Utah. Magistrate Judge Samuel Alba oversaw the case and signed off on the plea deal in a last minute hearing before trial. The case was high profile because the deaths of the two girls impacted the community drastically, and the company and its ex-employee faced other charges of misapplying pesticide that were unrelated to the trial. After accepting the plea deal, Judge Alba assigned the case to Judge Dee Benson.

Phillips Electrical v. BC Technical Case
This case involved claims of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and misappropriation of trade secrets, among others. The discovery of electronically stored information was extensive and the plaintiff had to file three motions to compel defendant to produce the requested information. There were allegations that the defendant not only did not produce all the requested information, but destroyed the electronic files. The plaintiff subsequently brought a motion for sanctions. After an evidentiary hearing, Judge Alba issued a 117 page report and recommendation finding that the defendant had intentionally destroyed evidence and recommending that the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's complaint be stricken and default entered against the defendant. Judge Alba also ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff's attorney fees in the sum of $294,694. Judge Alba's report and recommendation was adopted in its entirety by Judge Clark Waddoups in February of 2011.

Publications and Speeches
In 2010, Alba was chosen as a distinguished speaker for Utah State University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Speaker series. Judge Alba gave a speech titled "The Changing Face of Law in Latin America"