He was an assistant United States attorney of the Northern District of Illinois from 1971 to 1973.
He was an assistant United States attorney of the Western District of New York from 1973 to 1975.
He was a first assistant United States attorney of Western District of New York from 1975 to 1981.
He was a staff attorney of Office of Special Prosecutor of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. in 1980.
[2] Skretny was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on June 12, 1990, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of New York vacated by Judge John Thomas Curtin.