KSM II (AE448B(AAA)).pdfGitmo Inc.: Five 'forever prisoners' have business plan
BY CAROL ROSENBERG
CROSENBERG@MIAMIHERALD.COM
UPDATED JUNE 23, 2016 7:25 PM
No, it’s not a kibbutz. But the crude jailhouse plans for a “Milk & Honey” farm business in Yemen are suggestive of one.
Five war-on-terror captives locked up inside Guantánamo prison have designed a self-sufficient agricultural business west of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. They envision a community of 200 families, 100 farmhouses, 10 cows, 500 chickens, 50 sheep, a honey bee subsidiary and computer system powered by windmills.
The would-be entrepreneurs drew up the 75-page prospectus before the prison hunger strike. But it recently emerged from U.S. military censorship at an opportune time — as the Obama administration searches for ways to safely send some prisoners home to Yemen and close the Pentagon’s costly prison camps in Cuba.
And, while the quirky business model makes no mention of the potent al-Qaida franchise that U.S. officials fear will attract freed Yemeni prisoners, it does illustrate that some of the 155 captives have a vision of life after a dozen years in American detention without charge or trial.
It is also the product of calmer, more trustworthy times at Guantánamo — before the guard shakedowns, genital searches and gunshots that put the prisoners under lockdown for their hunger strike. And the thrust of the project strikes Yemen expert Charles Schmitz as quite realistic.
“Yemen could really use some low-tech, sustainable technologies,” said Schmitz, a professor of geography at Towson University who read a copy of the plan at the request of the Miami Herald. “Yemenis are very innovative; you could see it in what they’re doing.”
Schmitz has been visiting the poor Arabian peninsula country for 20 years, and has at times served as a translator at Guantánamo. He doesn’t know the five men who who drew up the plan, the self-described Milk & Honey Board of Directors. Each is an indefinite detainee, meaning in 2009 the Obama administration declared them impossible to try but too dangerous to let go.
But Schmitz saw in the scheme a blend of Yemeni ingenuity and Guantánamo influences.
Honey, in particular, is “a big deal in Yemen,” he said. People endow it with “curative health qualities and magic powers” — and pay top dollar for it. Wind energy is a largely untapped power, but the detainees can see it in the huge turbines that loom over the U.S. Navy base and are visible at the prison camps.
Of the 155 men held at Guantánamo, 77 are approved for transfer with security precautions. And the majority of them are Yemeni.
Attorney David Remes, who represents several of the would-be directors, said the captives drew it up in the year before the hunger strike crisis. That was before Army guards took control of the communal prison camp. More-sympathetic Navy guards had let cooperative captives set up a Business School Behind Bars — and let a suspected al-Qaida financier run it as a self-styled Dean of Students.
Any riff on the Bible’s reference to Israel as the Land of Milk and Honey, according to Remes, is probably unintentional.
“I really doubt it was conscious,” said the lawyer, who has provided no-charge legal services to about 20 Guantánamo detainees, not all Yemeni, for more than a decade.
He said the goal of a self-sustaining community “is something that has been dreamed about by many societies through the years, including by individuals in the United States.”
Enter Saifullah Paracha, a former Pakistani businessman and American resident captured by the United States in Bangkok in 2003 on suspicion of financial dealings with Osama bin Laden. At age 66, Paracha is Guantánamo’s oldest prisoner. He set up the class but speaks no Arabic, said Remes, and insisted the prisoners learn English as the language of international business.
“We had 24 hours open access. There were about 35 inmates,” Paracha wrote recently in an account he sent the Obama administration parole board. They set up a “classroom with desks and chairs. There I had many students. Some of them were angry and rebellious. I kept them busy with extra homework.”
At times, the business plan they produced sounds like a social studies project. It has a primer on free-range versus conventional chicken-raising, a section on educating the farmers’ children from kindergarten “based on Montessori pre-school training” — and hand-colored maps and tables of statistics.
Guantánamo commanders have told reporters for years that while the captives watch satellite television reports from the Arab world, they don’t have access to the Internet inside their prisons. They get books and magazines from a prison camp library.
But the plan shows they know all about it. They propose a networked laptop computer in every farmhouse with capital raised through “ Kickstarter” or other social-media entrepreneurship.
For its part, the current prison management suggested in a brief statement that the business school was probably sanctioned by the administration, as Paracha wrote the parole board.
“Detainees in Camp 6 are in a communal setting,” said Navy Cmdr. John Filostrat, “allowing them to interact up to 18 hours a day. The ability for one detainee to organize/instruct multiple detainees in business or agricultural practices is not surprising or prohibited.”
Some of it seems a bit fanciful, and may bear the imprint of a decade-plus detention at the U.S. Navy base cloistered behind a minefield in southeastern Cuba.
The Milk & Honey Board of Directors want a private telephone exchange, fiber-optic Internet communication, school, hospital, car-rental office, bank, park, motor pool, mosque and post office — just like Guantánamo, where a Navy goal is self-sufficiency also.
The U.S. military is building a $40 million fiber-optic link between the base and Florida, and the Navy has experimented with recycling cooking oil as fuel. The prisoners want to fuel their farm with wind energy and make gas from cow dung.
The Board of Directors
The five Guantánamo prisoners who designed the proposed Yemen Milk & Honey Farms Ltd., business also named themselves to the Board of Directors. They are Abdulsalam al Hela, Prisoner 1463, chairman; Saeed Jarabh, Prisoner 235, managing director and Abdul Rahman Ahmed, Prisoner 441, director and secretary; and Khaled Ahmad Qasim, Prisoner 242 and Abdul Malik Wahab al Rahabi, Prisoner 37, directors.
All are designated indefinite detainees. None has ever been charged with a crime in more than a decade in U.S. custody.uantánamo prison: A primer
The Pentagon has built a series of facilities at Guantánamo Bay since it inaugurated its offshore detention and interrogation center for terrorist suspects in January 2002 by airlifting from Afghanistan to Cuba, and housing the first 300 or more temporarily at Camp X-Ray. In early 2011, House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., declared the prison camp infrastructure had an overall capacity to confine 800 captives. Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, told Congress in March that with closures, degraded facilities and a downsized prison staff of 1,700 troops and contractors the capacity was around 65.
Here's a breakdown of the known lockups and other buildings, with best estimates of the current detainee population:
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Camp X-Ray: The first camp, with 311 cells made of chain-link fencing, has emerged as the iconic image of the rugged, makeshift accommodations granted so-called enemy combatants in remote Cuba. A maze of kennel-like cages, the camp housed prisoners for about four months. It was an arrangement that allowed them to chat and pray communally and at one point organize the first hunger strike. One captive's leaked interrogation log indicated it was used even after it was closed for the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used on Mohammed Qahtani, a Saudi whom a senior Pentagon lawyer declared was tortured in U.S. custody. Now abandoned, and overgrown with weeds, it once provided journalists from around the world an opportunity to see how the detention center's infrastructure has evolved. But in 2016 the detention center commander, Rear Adm. Peter Clarke, forbade his public relations staff from bringing media there during the monthly, guided tours. His successor commander, Rear Adm. Edward Cashman, notified a federal court in March that he intended to demolish it. By the summer of 2018 it was still there and Cashman's successor, Rear Adm. John Ring, said talks were underway on what to do with the site. One idea: A solar array. Opened: Jan. 11, 2002. Current population: Zero.
Camp Delta, also known as Camps 1-2-3: This was the first improvement for housing the detainees. Halliburton workers from the Indian subcontinent welded metal shipping containers to create about 720 individual steel and mesh cells in boxcar-style arrangements on a site near the coast, which the captives could not see. In June 2006, three Arab captives were simultaneously discovered hanging in their cells in a single block at Camp 1, initially unnoticed by guards because they hung towels to block the view. By January 2009, a Pentagon report said, it was being used to house an undisclosed number of hunger-striking detainees being force-fed nutritional shakes through tubes snaked up their noses to reach their stomachs. After that, it was used to jail detainees considered leaders or troublemakers in a special section called One-Alpha, men the military believed could influence other captives. It also contains meeting rooms for some defense lawyers to consult with their client captives; a prefabricated building with videteleconference capacity for a prisoner to address the Periodic Review Board; and the prison library. Detainees never did browse the stacks in the two prefab buildings. Rather, it is a storage site that in February 2017 held 33,500 books, magazines, audio recordings and DVDs available to circulate among low-value detainees. Opened: April 28, 2002. Current detainee population: Zero.
Navy Base Brig: In 2002, if not later, the Pentagon housed war on terror captives defined at the local level as "high-value detainees" in the base brig just off the road to Camp X-Ray, near the turnoff to the base hospital. Among those known to be held there was Mohammed Qahtani, a Saudi captive who was subjected to harsh, isolating interrogation at Camp X-Ray long after the prison said it was closed. The 10-cell lockup was there before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and is believed no longer used to hold any war on terror captives. Opened: Unknown. Current detainee population: Unknown.
Camp Echo: The military uses this 24-cell camp as a segregation site for captives who can't mix with others. It has also been routinely used as a meeting site between captives and their lawyers, who for years shared meals with their clients inside the shed-style buildings containing a tiny cell, a toilet and shower, with adjoining space for a table and chairs, and an ankle shackle fixed to the floor. Until a federal judge ordered the practice halted in November 2004, it was also used as a special segregation site for detainees facing war-crimes trials before military commissions. Confessed al-Qaida foot soldier David Hicks of Australia lived there on and off for long stretches of his five-year stay at Guantánamo and was held there following his guilty plea while awaiting repatriation to his homeland. Prior to that, the Washington Post reported in 2004, it was a CIA black site. In July 2016, the prison showed a bunkhouse for captives to stay up to a week before release to another country. Then in October 2016 the Pentagon sent home Mohamedou Ould Slahi to Mauritania, ending his years of solo segregation there. Opened: Date unknown. Current detainee population: Zero.
Camp 4: Meant to be a showcase, pre-release detention area for 175 or so of the most cooperative, least dangerous captives, it was designed to resemble a traditional POW lockup. It had 10-cot bunkhouses, communal showers and toilets and a common outdoor eating area with picnic tables where captives could pray together. Commanders also added exercise bicycles and let play pickup soccer beneath a watchtower in "The Big Sky Camp," as captives called it for its open-air spaces. In May 2006, one block was the scene of what guards described as a foiled uprising. Later, the site had a classroom with desks and leg shackles for Arabic, Pashto and art classes as well as a satellite TV trailer. The military emptied the camps in January 2011 for repairs but by Sept. 11, 2011 it was out of service -- a vacant, rusting compound used by the BBC in a live broadcast two-hour program. By then, President Barack Obama's Jan. 11, 2009 closure order, complete with his sweeping signature, could be plainly seen fading on detainee bulletin boards where guards had hung it soon after the commander in chief signed it. Opened: February 2003. Current detainee population: Zero.
Camp 5: This maximum-security, $17 million two-tiered building modeled after a state prison in Bunker Hill, Ind., currently has four blocks capable of housing about 75 captives monitored by guards using closed-circuit cameras and a central locking system. In 2017 and 2018, Alpha Block was transformed into a medical unit, complete with dental and opthamological suites and a two-cell psych ward. At one time, the main building had special interrogation cells outfitted with faux Persian carpets, blue velour reclining chairs with an ankle shackle point, monitors, panic buttons and open-air, cage-like recreation yards. It has in the past housed 100 prisoners considered of greatest intelligence value, each in a single cell with toilet and fixed sleeping shelf under constant monitor by guards who peer through their windows. A top tier block in the building has been used as a "Convicts Corridor" to segregate Ali Hamza al Bahlul, the only remaining prisoner who has been convicted of war crimes at a Military Commission and received a sentence. Each detainee gets his meals slid through a slot in the metal door, and could exercise in a chain-link fence encircled recreation yard. In the summer of 2011, at least one prisoner smeared his excrement in his cell ventilation shafts, sending a stench through the structure that sickened both captives and guards. Commanders claimed it ended some months later due to peer pressure. In the summer of 2016, guards closed it and leaders notified a federal court of the planned Alpha Block medical unit, an $8.4 million project that was complete by June 2018 . Opened: May 2004. Current detainee population: About 2.
Camp 5 Echo: The prison's disciplinary block, this 24-unit boxcar-style lockup within Camp 5 has steel plates rather than metal mesh welded between cells in conditions captives and their lawyers likened to abusive isolation. It was built in November 2007 at a cost of $690,000, according to Navy Cmdr. Tamsen Reese, who as prison spokeswoman in late 2011 released the first-ever photo of the segregation site, at right. It is not shown to reporters invited to the remote Navy base for prison camps tours that boast a safe, humane and transparent approach to U.S. military detention. "Typically," according to Reese, the segregation site "serves as a disciplinary block for those non-compliant detainees in Camps Five and Six. Discipline is administered through a process of reduced levels of privileges, and not by use of isolation or solitary confinement." It is not known when the prison sealed up the cells. Navy Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh, finding the camps compliant with the Geneva Conventions in February 2009, described it as "an open air facility with 24 individual adjoining steel mesh cells arranged in two parallel and equal rows – similar to Camp 1." Opened: April 2008. Closed by 2016.
Camp 6: This $39 million, centrally run, 200-cell prison with 175 beds welded to the walls was meant to be a minimum-security, all-enclosed version of Camp 4, with communal eating areas, easy-access showers and its own medical and dental clinic based on a Michigan model. After detainees fought guards inside Camp 4 in May 2006, it was redesigned as a maximum-security lockup where captives ate every meal and spent at least 22 hours a day alone in a 6.8-by-12-foot cell furnished with a stainless steel sink and toilet, a bunk and a steel desk with a slot to hold each captive's Quran. A common recreation yard was subdivided into chain-link-fence-style cages. By August 2010, the military said detainees were back to living collectively there, with up to 20 hours a day of TV or radio broadcast through headsets. Commanders said each of the 22-cell pods was organized according to broadcast preference with two pods having exclusively Quran readings broadcast from Saudi Arabia. Another was made up predominantly of Yemeni soccer fans who dominated in matches in the communal recreation yard. Afghan Awal Gul, 48, collapsed and died in one cellblock after working out on an elliptical machine Feb. 2, 2011. On May 18, 2011, guards spotted another Afghan, Hajji Nassim, hanging from bed linen in a recreation yard early one morning in what was considered the sixth suicide at the detention center. On Feb. 28, 2012 the camps' public affairs team showed reporters a two-toned gravel field surrounded by fences and barbed wire to reveal a $744,000 soccer field there, called the "Super Rec," for recreation. From April 13, 2013 through part of 2014 single-cell lockdown continued in some portions as the prison eased back to communal in Camp 6, with hunger strikers and others under lock down in Camp 5. Once Camp 5 was closed, in August 2016, the guard force consolidated all non-high-value detainees into this eight cellblock lockup. Most lived collectively. Opened: December 2006. Current detainee population: 23 or fewer.
Camp 7: Little is known about this 32-cell, two tier secret camp within the camps, whose existence was revealed Dec. 8, 2007, in declassified notes of the first attorneys to meet former CIA-held captives. The Pentagon refuses to say how much taxpayers paid to build it, when it went up and what firm got the contract. The camp is not on the media tours that boast safe, humane, transparent care and custody of the 40 foreign captives but members of Congress sometimes get to stop in and look at the prisoners through one-way glass. Its special guard force, called Task Force Platinum, is drawn from National Guard troops who come and go on a nine-month tour of duty. In February 2009, then Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh described it as similar to a SuperMax prison in the United States -- with climate controlled cells, a recreation yard surrounded by a chain-link fence and rooms where detainees can watch videos and play with hand-held games. It also has can provide dental services so ex-CIA captives need not be taken to the main detainee medical facility. Only one Camp 7 detainee has been known to ever leave detention there: Tanzanian Ahmed Ghailani, who on June 9, 2009 was sent to New York a for a federal criminal trial. Baltimore-raised Pakistani Majid Khan, who pleaded guilty to war crimes on Feb. 29, 2012, was segregated from the others at Camp 7 in an annex situation similar to the Convicts Corridor at Camp 5, according to Rear Adm. David B. Woods. There are no known pictures of the place. The Trump administration is seeking a $69 million earmark from Congress to replace it. In March 2014, then prison camp commander Rear Adm. Richard Butler blamed site selection and said ground beneath the secret prison had shifted, cracking the floors and walls and preventing certain doors from working. But in May 2016 a subsequent commander, Rear Adm. Peter Clarke declared it structurally sound. In war court testimony in the Sept. 11 mass murder trial related to conditions of confinement, detainees described a door from the cell that leads to an individual chain-linked fence and fabric enclosed cage of sorts, called "Charlie Rec," for an individual outdoor area described by prosecutor Clay Trivett as a "patio." Opened: Date unknown. Cost: Unknown. Current detainee population: 15.
Camp Iguana: It was initially established as a segregated housing compound for pre-teen "juvenile enemy combatants" flown in from the war zone, and had a single cement-block building. Later, contractors and sailors added a series of wooden huts -- first for meetings between captives and their lawyers, later as a lockup for men whose detention was ruled unlawful by the federal courts. It for years housed ethnic Uighur Muslims from China behind razor wire topped chain-linked fences. Pentagon spokesmen stopped letting media see it after some Uighurs waved protest signs for visiting reporters written on military-issue art supplies. The last Uighurs left for Slovakia in December 2013, and the prison kept it in caretaker status until disclosing its decommissioning in August of 2017. By February 2018 all the buildings but one were demolished. Opened: Date unknown.
Behavioral Health Unit: The prison's psychiatric ward is a separate building adjacent to the detention center hospital, both run by U.S. Navy medical professionals who come and go on rotations of generally less than a year. The BHU, as the psych ward is known, serves as a segregation site for captives removed from the general population with diagnoses of mental illness or "self-injurious behavior." The Behavioral Health Unit can hold up to 12 detainees in special single-occupancy cells, ostensibly under constant surveillance. A Yemeni captive died in his cell there in the summer of 2009 in what military investigators concluded was a suicide. Reporters on media visits pass by it on their way to a detention center hospital briefing, but are generally forbidden to look inside. Opened: 2006. Closed May 2018.
Detention Center Headquarters: The prison's senior staff work at the Intelligence Operations Facility, or IOF, the command-and-control center for the estimated 1,700 military and contract workers at the detention center complex that today houses 40 foreign men as captives. The state-of-the-art building known as the Red Roof Inn was built in 2004 for $13.5 million. It's not far from the Seaside Galley dining facility for prison staff where the captives' meals are also prepared. The commander and his deputies occupy space in this eavesdrop-proof structure, the best and most technologically equipped building at the Navy base on a space far from the downtown at the site called Radio Range. It has video-conferencing, the staff judge advocate and a public affairs officer. Based on testimony at the war court's Camp Justice compound, miles away, it also receives a live feed of military commissions proceedings so the jailers can monitor testimony and arguments in the cases against their captives. The public affairs staff reported in September 2016 that it has a plaque with steel from the World Trade Center, presented to the staff by the firefighter father of two sons killed on 9/11 as well as a framed "Flag of Honor" inscribed with former prison commander Rear Adm. Richard Butler's name -- an American flag whose stripes are made up of the names of every single person who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. Opened: 2004.
Camp Justice: Built atop the old McCalla Airfield, this is the site where the Pentagon holds sessions of the military commissions as well as some Periodic Review Board hearings. The centerpiece of the war court compound is the Expeditionary Legal Complex, or ELC — a state-of-the-art maximum-security courthouse capable of trying six defendants at a time and releasing the audio to the public on a 40-second delay. It also has six cells, each capable of holding a single captive. Five are behind the maximum-security courthouse and a sixth is inside a razor-wire-ringed tent adjacent to a dilapidated hangar. When this cell was first shown to reporters in February 2008 it was described as meeting Federal Bureau of Prison standards — and available to imprison witnesses brought to Guantánamo Bay from federal prisons. The Camp Justice compound also has a series of maximum-security, snoop-proof office-style trailers for attorneys to handle classified documents. The classified office spaces, called Razors, were flown in on a C130 cargo plane in June 2007 — the last known aircraft to land on McCalla Field. Now one portion of the tarmac has a trailer park for some lawyers, translators, paralegals and other war court support staff. Another holds tents where reporters and war court observers are assigned to sleep. A hilltop building overlooking the airfield has a now defunct medium-security courtroom, as well as office space. The largest fixture on the site is a rundown aircraft hangar with offices for war court security staff, news reporters, some soldiers and an air-conditioned $49,000 wooden shed that serves as a stage-set of sorts for Pentagon press conferences. The military disclosed the initial cost of building the ELC at $12 million — in part because the tents and certain equipment came from existing Air Force supplies — but it has never revealed the true costs of subsequent building, maintenance and upkeep projects. The Navy and Marine Corps. Public Health Public Health Center has conducted multiple surveys amid concerns that this former airfield could be hazardous to occupants' health. In 2018, Congress authorized the expenditure of $14 million on an ELC expansion. Opened: May 2008. Population can range from fewer than 10 to over 100 during hearings.
this was a commissioned torture by the head. they chose the worst possible.
Arianna Mcclain is not a talker. Only to know much about.
ariannA McCLain
they're paying to torture and torment still with threat to extradionary rendition
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Honors Justice Department Employees and Partners for the 70th and 71st Annual Attorney General’s Awards
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
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For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland today announced the recipients of the 70th and 71st Annual Attorney General’s Awards, honoring Justice Department employees and others for extraordinary contributions to the enforcement of our nation’s laws. Recipients from both 2022 and 2023 were selected from a group of more than 800 nominees.
“Each of today’s recipients has served with distinction, and in so doing, they have enabled the Justice Department to advance its work on behalf of the American people,” said Attorney General Garland. “Their exceptional leadership, heroism, and dedication have benefited people and communities across the country.
The 70th and 71st Attorney General’s Awards and recipients are as follows.
70th Annual Attorney General’s Awards – 2022
The Attorney General’s David Margolis Award for Exceptional Service is the highest award given by the Justice Department to recognize employee achievement. The Attorney General commends Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel of the Civil Rights Division; Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Civil Rights Division; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allen Slaughter, Evan Gilead, LeeAnn Bell Manda Sertich, and Samantha Bates for the District of Minnesota; FBI Special Agent Blake Hostetter; Paralegals Henry Fronk of the Civil Rights Division and Stefnie Braun for the District of Minnesota; Victim/Witness Specialists Selina Kolsrud and Christina Busse for the District of Minnesota; and Litigation Support Specialist Daniel Czapko for the District of Minnesota.
The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service is the Department’s second highest award for employee performance; there are 13 Distinguished Service Awards for 2022.
The first Distinguished Award for 2022 is presented to Deputy Chief Barbara “Bobbi” Bernstein of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section; Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Lyons for the Southern District of Georgia; FBI Special Agents Jeffrey Roberts, Marcus Griffin, and Skylar Barnes; Investigator Steven Harrell of the Civil Rights Division; Paralegals Taylore Thomas of the Civil Rights Division and Tracy Long for the Southern District of Georgia; Victim Witness Coordinators Kellie Wiggins and Iverna Campbell for the Southern District of Georgia; FBI Staff Operations Specialist Maria Pagan; Special Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Perras of the Civil Rights Division; and FBI Intelligence Analyst Amy Vaughan.
The second Distinguished Award for 2022 is presented to Supervisory Special Agents Michael D. Muller and Kerry M. Whitmore of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), DEA Diversion Investigator Jessica A. Stransky-Chrisman; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicolas Roos, Alexandra Rothman, Louis Pellegrino, Stephanie Lake, and Thomas Burnett for the Southern District of New York; DEA Special Agent George J. Burdzy; DEA Diversion Investigators Kathleen M. Whitmore, Brittany G. Korines, and Christine L. Barnes; and DEA Staff Coordinator William J. Kivelehan.
The third Distinguished Award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth S. Clark, Zachary Stendig, and Anatoly Smolkin for the District of Maryland; FBI Special Agent Alicia C. Zimmerman, FBI Task Force Officer Detective Tara Baione Augustin, FBI Task Force Officer Kyrie Yackovich, FBI Staff Operations Specialist John Coward II; Special Agent Kimmesia Sampson of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The fourth Distinguished Award is presented to Trial Attorneys Matthew J. McKenzie and S. Derek Shugert of the National Security Division; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jarod J. Douglas for the Northern District of West Virginia and Jessica Lieber Smolar for the Western District of Pennsylvania; FBI Special Agents Jason Serone, Justin Van Tromp, and Peter L. Olinits; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Andrew Bass Gray; FBI Unit Chief Andrew Thomas Mitchell; Special Agent John C. Nocella of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS); FBI Intelligence Analyst Brent Cronce; FBI Staff Operations Specialist Vicky Mineard; FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Brassini; FBI Supervisory Investigative Specialist Keith Smith; and FBI Intelligence Analyst Sean Cottington.
The fifth Distinguished Award is presented to Acting Director Katherine Harman-Stokes of the Office of Privacy & Civil Liberties; Deputy Assistant Attorneys General Richard Downing and Bruce Swartz of the Criminal Division; Associate Director Sheri Shepherd-Pratt of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs; Assistant Deputy Chief Erica O’Neil of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section; Senior Counsels Benjamin Fitzpatrick and Kenneth Harris of the Criminal Division; and Attorney Advisor Hannah Mayer of the Criminal Division.
The sixth Distinguished Award is presented to Supervisor Deputy U.S. Marshal Jerry Viera; Deputy U.S. Marshals Teddy Josh Moff, Brady M. Flannigan, Troy W. Oberly, and Kyle L. Perry; and Task Force Officers Brandon J. Bansemer and Truman S. Wiles of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).
The seventh Distinguished Award is presented to Director John Patrick Glynn of the Civil Division’s Environmental Torts Section.
The eighth Distinguished Award is presented to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aidan Taft Grano-Mickelsen, Dennis M. Fitzpatrick, and John T. Gibbs for the Eastern District of Virginia; Trial Attorney Alicia H. Cook of the National Security Division; Paralegal Specialist Nicole M. Lopez for the Eastern District of Virginia; Victim-Witness Coordinator Jennifer A. Donnarumma for the Eastern District of Virginia; FBI Supervisory Special Agent John M. Chiappone; FBI Special Agents Brian D. Czekala, Daniel P. O’Toole, William H. Heaney, and Julius F. Nutter; FBI Intelligence Analyst Edward R. Laney; Command Judge Advocate Elisabeth L. Gilman of the Department of Defense; and Associate Deputy General Counsel Michael D. Vozzo of the Department of Defense.
The ninth Distinguished Award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kriss R. Basil, Alexia R. DeVincentis, Stephen E. Frank, Kristen A. Kearney, Justin D. O’Connell, Ian J. Stearns, Leslie A. Wright, and Carol E. Head for the District of Massachusetts, Financial Investigator Lauren M. George for the District of Massachusetts, FBI Special Agents Laura C. Smith, Kaitlyn A. Cedrone, Keith T. Brown, and Chris Giankura; IRS Special Agent Elizabeth A. Keating; and Special Agent Mark G. Deckett of the Department of Education Office of Inspector General.
The 10th Distinguished Award is presented to FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Andrew P. Patchman; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Edward A. Panetta; FBI Special Agents Raymond Esposito and Keri A. Shannon; FBI Staff Operations Specialists Amanda Rossi and Samir Taslaman; FBI Language Specialist Dragan Minic; FBI Assistant Legal Attaches Veh Bezdikian and Justin Hefner; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Hafetz, J. Matthew Haggans and Saritha Komatireddy for the Eastern District of New York; Paralegal Specialist Huda Abouchaer for the Eastern District of New York; and DHS Special Agent/Task Force Officer Charles M. Reich.
The 11th Distinguished Award is presented to Attorney-Advisors Christopher Clements, Megan Fluckiger, Alice Jou, Tyler Wood, and Stephen Buckingham of the National Security Division; Ryan Watzel of the Office of Legal Counsel; and FBI Intelligence Analyst Mike Granzini.
The 12th Distinguished Award is presented to Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. Nutt of the Office of the Inspector (OIG); OIG Program Manager Mark E. Gray; OIG Special Agent Rolando Ortiz-Rodriguez; Senior Counsel to the Inspector General Karen Rich, Office of the Inspector General.
The 13th Distinguished Award is presented to Chief of the Criminal Appeals Division David C. James for the Eastern District of New York.
The Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Heroism recognizes a remarkable act of bravery and risk of life while performing official duties. Two Exception Herrorism Awards are presented this year.
The first Award for Exceptional Heroism is presented posthumously to DEA Group Supervisor Michael G. Garbo; DEA Special Agent Steven J. Fox; DEA Detective/Task Force Officer Gabe A. Lopez of the Tucson Police Department; Sergeant/Task Force Officer Jesse Chamberlain of the Tucson Police Department; and Officer/Task Force Officer Phillip M. Hengsteler Chamberlain of the Tucson Police Department.
The second Award for Exceptional Heroism is presented to USMS Senior Inspector Michael Cundiff.
The Edward H. Levi Award for Outstanding Professionalism and Exemplary Integrity pays tribute former Attorney General Edward H. Levi by honoring an individual whose service to the Department exemplifies these qualities. The 2022 recipient of this award is Appellate Litigation Counsel Michael S. Raab of the Civil Division.
The Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award recognizes employees who have served at least 20 years in the Department and who have demonstrated high standards of excellence and dedication throughout their careers. This award is presented only in exceptional circumstances to those individuals of special merit and is not awarded to express general appreciation for tenure alone. Two Mary C. Lawton Awards are presented for 2022.
The first Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award is presented to Acting Deputy Chief Gerald A. Toner of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section.
The second Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award is presented posthumously to Deputy Chief Nathaniel Douglas of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environment Enforcement Section.
The William French Smith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cooperative Law Enforcement recognizes state and local law enforcement officials who have made significant contributions to cooperative law enforcement endeavors. The 2022 recipients of this award are Assistant Special Agents in Charge Richard Dial and Jason Seacrist of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country recognizes extraordinary efforts by Justice Department employees that demonstrate the Department’s commitment to fight crime in Indian Country. The award is presented to DEA Supervisory Special Agent Mihajlo D. Zivkovic; DEA Special Agents Daryl A. Iannillo, Christopher H. Salyer, and Virginia W. Foster; DEA Task Force Officer Preston H. Brogdon; Officer Tyler Bond of the Yavapai Apache Police Department; Detective Rex Van Ausdall of the Yavapai Apache Police Department; Detective Sergeant Steve Gunis of the Yavapai Apache Police Department; and Chief Nathan Huibregtse of the Yavapai Apache Police Department.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement recognizes outstanding professional achievements by law enforcement officers within the Justice Department. Two Excellence in Law Enforcement Awards are presented for 2022.
The first Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement is presented to DEA Special Agents Adam J. Cirillo, Adrian M. Owens, Kelly Y. Chang, Kelly D. Webster, Kevin D. Novick, Silvana M. Restrepo, Trenton L. Shaffer, and Tiffany Hsieh; and DEA Intelligence Analyst Diana D. Wu.
The second Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement is presented to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Margaret Mande; FBU Special Agent Jose M. De La Sierra; FBI Special Agent William Lewis Donaldson III; and Supervisory Officer/Task Force Officer Daniel Jose Gonzalez of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Management recognizes outstanding administrative or managerial achievements which have significant improved operations, productivity, or reduced costs. The award is presented to Director for Strategic Planning and Performance Staff Robin S. Funston of the Justice Management Division; Senior Performance Advisor Tennille R. Nance of the Justice Management Division; Senior Evaluation Advisor Russell C. Burnett of the Justice Management Division; Senior Advisor for Enterprise Risk Management Debra R. Williams of the Justice Management Division; Program Analyst Marita J. La Palm of the Justice Management Division; Senior Counsel Sonja M. Ralston of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General; and Special Advisor Apiyo Oloya of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Information Technology recognizes exceptional achievement in applying information technology to enhance Department operations, maintain efficiency, and solve problems. This award is presented to FBI Information Technology Specialists Angela S. Epperly, Chad E. Elliott, Dennis G. Klingensmith, Donald Carpenter Jr., Dustin Tawney, Gregory A. Wood, James D. Marple, James M. Murray, Matthew L. Groves, Nicholas Daniel Fleming, Richard L. Whitescarver, Tonya Nicole Church, and Warren A. Morgan Jr.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions towards protecting U.S. national security. This award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fred Sheppard and Sabrina Feve for the Southern District of California; Chief of National Security and Cybercrimes John Parmley for the Southern District of California; FBI Special Agents Amy Poling, Adam James, Marina Shalfeyeva, Nicholas Arico, and Udell Hardy; and FBI Supervisory Special Agent Edison Constante. The Attorney General’s Award for Equal Employment Opportunity is the Department’s highest award for performance in support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Program. This award is presented to Special Assistant Erika Pugh of the Office of the FBI Deputy Director; FBI Supervisory Management and Program Analysts Janelle Anite Jones and Joshua Lyn Curry; FBI Management and Program Analysts Kathleen Ann Oltman, Kourtney Pearson, and Amanda L. Carroll; and FBI Special Advisor/Management and Program Analyst Apiyo Oloya.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Legal Support recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of legal support to attorneys by paralegal specialists and other legal assistants.
The first award for Excellence in Legal Support – Paralegal Support is presented to Litigation Technology Case Manager Amanda J. Reinken of the Tax Division.
The second award for Excellence in Legal Support – Legal Assistance Support is presented to Data Analyst Patrick Gifford of the Criminal Division.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Administrative Support recognizes outstanding performance in administrative or managerial support by administrative employees or secretaries. This award is presented to Administrative Services Specialist Rae N. Ross of the Justice Management Division.
The Claudia J. Flynn Award for Professional Responsibility recognizes a Department attorney who has made significant contributions in the area of professional responsibility by successfully handling a sensitive and challenging professional responsibility issue in an exemplary fashion and/or leading efforts to ensure that Department attorneys carry out their duties in accordance with the rules of professional conduct. The award is presented to Senior Associate Counsel William J. Birney of the Office of Professional Responsibility.
The Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention recognizes exceptional dedication and effort to prevent, investigate, and prosecute fraud, white collar crimes, and official corruption. The award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brooke C. Watson and Nicole Grosnoff for the Southern District of Florida and Dina McLeod for the Southern District of New York; Special Agents David Brant of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Special Agent Tyreek Brown of the U.S. Secret Service; Special Agents Sara Oliver, Sandip Singh, and Simon Dinitis of the Small Business Administration; Special Agent Ramon De Leon of the Social Security Administration; FBI Special Agents Adam Dixon and Zac Effting; and General Analyst Larry Alfonso of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
The Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Community Partnerships for Public Safety recognizes excellent achievement in the development and support of community partnerships designed to address public safety within a community. The award recognizes the significant contributions of citizens and organizations that have assisted the Department in the accomplishment of these programs. This award is presented to Deputy U.S. Marshal Albert Maresca Jr.
The Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee recognizes exceptional performance and notable accomplishments towards the Department’s mission by an employee with fewer than five years of federal career service. The 2022 award is presented to Appellate Trial Attorney Daniel L. Winik of the Civil Division.
The John Marshall Awards are the Department’s highest awards presented to attorneys for contributions and excellence in specialized areas of legal performance. Ten awards in eight categories are presented this year.
The first John Marshall Award for Trial of Litigation is presented to Deputy Chiefs Alixandra E. Smith and Jennifer E. Ambuehl of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section; Co-Principal Deputy Chief Brent Wible of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Drew G. Rolle and Dylan Stern for the Eastern District of New York.
The second John Marshall Award is presented to Acting Chief Saritha Komatireddy for the Eastern District of New York’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander F. Mindlin and Artie McConnell for the Eastern District of New York.
The third John Marshall Award for Participation in Litigation is presented to Deputy Chief Rachael Tamar Hagler of the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section; Trial Attorneys Erin Meehan Richmond, Kathryn Legomsky, and Natasha Babazedeh of the Civil Rights Division; and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Campion and Susan Millenky for the District of New Jersey.
The fourth John Marshall Award for Support of Litigation is presented to Senior Counsel Jared S. Hosid of the Criminal Division; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Miller for the District of Columbia, Geoffrey Barrow for the District of Oregon, and Marcus Busch for the Northern District of Texas; National Criminal Discovery Coordinator Andrew Goldsmith of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General; Legal Administrative Officer Caitlin Grzymala of the Antitrust Division; FBI Associate Division Counsel Vicki Wilson; Litigation Technology Coordinator Susan Cooke of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; Information Technology Program Manager Mustafa Edrisy of the Justice Management Division; Information Technology Program Manager John Brandon Platt of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; Information Technology Specialist Maisha Treadwell of the National Security Division; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Taylor; FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan; Information Technology Specialist Joshua Ellen for the Western District of North Carolina; Paralegal Specialist Cassi Wiseman of the Antitrust Division; and Litigation Chief Karen McColman of the National Security Division’s Technology Support Services.
The fifth John Marshall Award for Handling of Appeals is presented to Appellate Trial Attorney Lindsey Powell of the Civil Division.
The sixth John Marshall Award for Providing Legal Advice is presented to Special Counsel Rosemary A. Hart of the Office of Legal Counsel; Senior Counsels Laura E. Heim and Nathan Forrester of the Office of Legal Counsel; Counsel Nicholas Nasrallah of the Office of Legal Counsel; and Attorney-Advisors James A. Durling, Amin Aminafar, Janine S. Balekdijan, Kevin J. Barber, Conor J. Clarke, Conor J. Craft, Adam Grogg, Kelley Brooke Hostetler, Anjali Motgi, and Ryan Watzel of the Office of Legal Counsel.
The seventh John Marshall Award for Preparation or Handling of Legislation is presented to Chief Sarah Dorsey of the Criminal Division’s Policy Unit; and Attorney-Advisors Molly Cusson and Susan Schneider of the Criminal Division.
The eighth John Marshall Award for Asset Forfeiture is presented to Section Chief Seth M. Barsky of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Wildlife and Marine Resources Section; Assistant Section Chief Meredith L. Flax of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Wildlife and Marine Resources Section; Senior Attorney Mary E. Hollingsworth of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Trial Attorneys Briena L. Strippoli and Devon L. Flanagan of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Chief Susan S. Brandon for the Eastern District of Oklahoma’s Civil Division; Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. O’Malley for the Eastern District of Oklahoma; Senior Policy Advisor Darrin L. McCullough of the Criminal Division; Assistant Section Chief Jennifer L. Crane of the USMS’ Asset Forfeiture Division; USMS Property Management Specialist Cynthia L. Bridges; and USMS Assistant Chief Inspector Sean M. Xuereb.
The ninth John Marshall Award for Alternative Dispute Resolution is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Soler, David Z. Moskowitz, Katherine A. Ross, Jacob Licht, and Nicholas A. Deuschle for the District of Colorado.
71st Annual Attorney General’s Awards – 2023
The Attorney General’s David Margolis Award for Exceptional Service is the highest award granted by the Attorney General within the Justice Department. The 2023 award is presented to Director Hilary Axam of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit; Deputy Director William Nolan of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melinda Williams, Laura Provinzino, Craig Baune, and David Genrich for the District of Minnesota; Paralegal Stefnie Braun for the District of Minnesota; Victim/Witness Specialist Selina Kolsrud for the District of Minnesota; Litigation Support Specialist Daniel Czapko for the District of Minnesota; Supervisory Litigation Support Specialist Mark Zeitz for the District of Minnesota; HSI Supervisory Special Agent Tonya Price; IRS Special Agent John Tschida; and Special Agent Kevin Sullivan of the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service is the second highest Justice Department award granted by the Attorney General. There are 16 Distinguished Service Awards presented in 2023.
The first Distinguished Service award is presented to Deputy Assistant Director Andrew R. Lange of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)’s Enforcement Programs and Services; Chief Vivian S. Chu of the ATF’s Office of Regulatory Affairs; ATF Senior Economist Jeana L. Davalos; ATF Regulations Writers Helen L. Koppe and Denise R. Brown; ATF Senior Policy Counsel Eric M. Epstein; ATF Associate Chief Counsel James P. Vann; ATF Deputy Associate Chief Counsel Jonathan S. Jacobs; ATF Senior Counsel Melissa A. Anderson; ATF Firearms & Ammunition Chief William J. Ryan; ATF Chief Counsel Pamela J. Hicks.
The second Distinguished Service award is presented to Economists Malika Krishna and Jessica C. Stahl of the Antitrust Division; Trial Attorneys Ihan Kim, Jessica Leal, Brittney A. Dimond, Sarah Licht, Jon Goldsmith, Bennett Matelson, Collier Kelley, John P. Read, Kevin Krautscheid, Lauren Riker, Ethan Stevenson, and Robert Vance of the Antitrust Division; and Senior Litigation Counsel Jeffrey Vernon of the Antitrust Division.
The third Distinguished Service award is presented to Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sarah E. Harrington of the Civil Division; Appellate Litigation Counsel Michael S. Raab of the Civil Division; Senior Appellate Counsel Alisa B. Klein of the Civil Division; Assistant Branch Directors Eric B. Beckenhauer and Julie Straus Harris of the Civil Division’s Federal Programs Branch; Assistant Director Hilary K. Perkins of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch; Appellate Attorney Cynthia A. Barmore of the Civil Division; Trial Attorneys Christopher A. Eiswerth, Kate Talmor, Emily B. Nestler, Noah T. Katzen, Scott P. Kennedy, Oliver J. McDonald, and Isaac C. Belfer of the Civil Division; Assistants to the Solicitor General Luke McCloud and Erica Ross; Special Counsel Daniel S. Schwei of the Civil Division; Counsel Kathleen A. Choi of the Civil Division; Attorney-Advisor Naomi Gilens of the Office of Legal Counsel; and Senior Trial Counsel Amy D. Kossak of the Civil Division.
The fourth Distinguished Service award is presented to Trial Attorneys Christen Gallagher and Alison Zitron of the Criminal Division; FBI Special Agents Bryan Hamaker, Delaney Jester, Paul Rey, Justin Crenshaw, and Timothy Callinan; Assistant Deputy Chief William Hall and Deputy Chief James Silver of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chauncey Bratt for the Middle District of Florida and Jonathan Keim and Zoe Bedell for the Eastern District of Virginia; FBI IT Specialist Angel V. Nanov; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ryan J. Leszczynski; and Cyber Operations International Liaison Louisa Becker of the Criminal Division.
The fifth Distinguished Service award is presented to Deputy Chief Elizabeth E. McDonald of the Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section; Trial Attorneys Lindsey M. Weinstock, Hans Justin Park, James V. Fletcher, Lauren M. Latterell Powell, Jillian R. Lenson, Amanda B. Pearlstein, Janelle J. Geddes, Nonny Onyekweli, Beth Esposito, and Nicole Kovite Zeitler of the Civil Rights Division; Program Specialist Sara Olsen of the Civil Rights Division; Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica Harrell James for the Southern District of Florida; Litigation Support Specialist Justin Fields-Gray of the Civil Rights Division; and Paralegal Specialist Krysten Diaz-Silveira of the Civil Rights Division.
The sixth Distinguished Service award is presented to Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory McDonald and Ian Hanna for the Western District of Texas; Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Acosta for the Western District of Texas; Trial Attorneys Timothy Visser and Kyle Boynton of the Civil Rights Division; Trial Attorney Michael Warbel of the Criminal Division; Deputy Chief Forrest Christian of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section; Victim Witness Coordinator Gloria Gonzalez for the Western District of Texas; FBI Special Agents Eddie Dominguez, Christina Papp, and America Guevara; FBI Victim Specialists Jennifer Romero, and Kelly Murphy; ATF Special Agent Nate Anderson; and FBI Task Force Officer Brandon Speed.
The seventh Distinguished Service award is presented to DEA Group Supervisors Eric Jolley and Elvis Hugee and DEA Special Agents Brent Ramos, Peter Kinyoun, Rochelle Cup-Choy, Alexander Pearlstone, Audrey Alaniz, Michael Sier, and Eric Kischer.
The eighth Distinguished Service Award is presented to Senior Attorney Gabriel M. Allen of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division; Attorney-Advisor Katherine A. Abend of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division; Assistant Section Chief Lori B. Jonas of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Enforcement Section; Community Outreach Specialist Brenda J. Horner of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Director Cynthia M. Ferguson Environmental and Natural Resources Division’s Office of Environmental Justice; Chief Angela Givens Williams for the Southern District of Mississippi’s Civil Division; Paralegal Specialist Minnie V. Becton of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Senior Counsels Karl J. Fingerhood and Angela Mo of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Dease Paige for the Southern District of Mississippi; and Lead Conciliation Specialist for Region IV Walter L. Atkinson of the Community Relations Services.
The ninth Distinguished Service Award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Saritha Komatireddy, Philip Pilmar, and Adam Amir for the Eastern District of New York; Deputy Chief Erin Reid for the Eastern District of New York’s Civil Rights Section; Chief Ryan Harris of the Eastern District of New York’s Public Integrity Section; Paralegal Specialists Huda T. Abouchaer and Melissa Bennett for the Eastern District of New York; Special Agent George Dietz for the Eastern District of New York; FBI Special Agent Paul West; DEA Special Agents Jason Franks, James Cain, and John Muglia; and HSI Special Agents Damian Mazzaferro, Jimmy Cepeda, and Scott Vogel.
The 10th Distinguished Service Award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Rakoczy, Jeffrey Nestler, Alexandra “Alex” Hughes, Jocelyn Ballentine, and Troy A Edwards Jr. for the District of Columbia; FBI Special Agents Michael Palian, Sylvia Hilgeman, Joanna Abrams, Byron Cody, Kelsey Harris, John D. “Jack” Moore, Adam K. Pope, and Justin T. Eller; FBI Intelligence Analyst Katherine Riley Prendergast; Paralegal Specialist Amanda Rohde for the District of Columbia; Victim/Witness Program Specialist Yvonne Bryant for the District of Columbia; and FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer Banks.
The 11th Distinguished Service Award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason B.A. McCullough and Erik M. Kenerson for the District of Columbia and Nadia Moore for the Eastern District of New York; Trial Attorney Conor Mulroe of the Criminal Division; FBI Special Agents Nicholas Hanak, Kathryn Camiliere, Anthony J. “A.J.” Needler, Peter R. Dubrowski, Nicole Miller, and Brandon Camiliere; FBI Tactical Specialist Rebecca Corazzi; FBI Intelligence Analyst Brian M. Lizana; and FBI Senior Digital Forensic Examiner Jennifer Kathryn Cain.
The 12th Distinguished Service Award is presented to FBI Special Agents David B. Bannan, Steven M. Dixon, Melissa M. Fair, Deana M. Jones, Ashley T. Kakareka, Brian Sharrow, and Jason R. Maslow; FBI Staff Operations Specialist Tawnya Delarosa; FBI Intelligence Analysts Kris Hemme and Stacy Hamilton; FBI Legal Assistant Thomas Donnelly; FBI Task Force Officer Andrew Maurer; Chief Cherie Krigsman for Middle District of Florida’s National Security Section; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Risha Asokan for the Middle District of Florida.
The 13th Distinguished Service Award is presented to FBI Special Agents Ryan Boron, Nicholas Milan, and Thomas H. Lipp; Special Agent Christopher O’Neill of the Department of Commerce; FBI Supervisory Special Agents Calvin R. Davis and Steven Jefferson; FBI Staff Operations Specialists Alexander J. Kornberger and Kathryn McCool; FBI Forensics Accountant Jordanna A. Lubelli; FBI Assistant Legal Attache Jonathan R. Schmidt, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Artie McConnell and Madeline O’Connor for the Eastern District of New York; Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division; Justice Department Attache Josh Cavinato of the Office of International Affairs.
The 14th Distinguished Service Award is presented to OIG Special Agent Lyeson T. Daniel; OIG Assistant Special Agents in Charge Dennis E. Matulewicz Jr., Ryan T. Geach and H. Jeremy Horne; OIG Deputy Assistant Inspector General Sandra D. Barnes; and Senior Counsel to the Inspector General Erin Aslan.
The 15th Distinguished Service Award is presented to Deputy Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler; Appellate Trial Attorneys Amber B. Blaha and Mary Gabrielle Sprague of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Assistant to the Solicitor General Frederick Liu; Chief S. Craig Alexander of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Indian Resources Section; Assistant Appellate Section Chiefs William B. Lazarus and Rachel E. Heron of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Attorney-Advisor Christine W. Ennis of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gina L. Allery of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; Director Tracy Toulou of the Office of Tribal Justice; and Deputy Director JoAnn L. Kintz of the Office of Tribal Justice.
The Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Heroism is designed to recognize an extraordinary act of courage or voluntary risk of life during the performance of duty. One Exceptional Heroism Award is presented to ATF Special Agent Adam R. Daniels.
The Edward H. Levi Award for Outstanding Professionalism and Exemplary Integrity is established to pay tribute to the memory and achievements of former Attorney General Edward H. Levi, whose career as an attorney, law professor, and dean and public servant exemplified these qualities in the best traditions of the Department. In 2023, one Edward H. Levi Award is presented to Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Z. Toscas of the National Security Division.
The Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award recognizes employees who have served at least 20 years in the Department and who have demonstrated high standards of excellence and dedication throughout their careers. This award is presented only in exceptional circumstances to those individuals of special merit and is not awarded to express general appreciation for tenure alone. Two Mary C. Lawton Awards are presented for 2023.
The first Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award is presented to ATF Senior Counsel to the Director Joseph J. Allen.
The second Mary C. Lawton Lifetime Service Award is presented to Section Chief Steven H. Rosenbaum of the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section.
The William French Smith Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cooperative Law Enforcement was established to pay tribute to the memory and achievements of former Attorney General William French Smith for his establishment of Law Enforcement Coordinating Committees (LECCs), and his outstanding efforts in promoting law enforcement cooperation and coordination throughout the nation. It is designed to recognize state and local law enforcement officials who, through their participation in cooperative interagency efforts, have made significant contributions to law enforcement endeavors and objectives. This award is presented to DEA Task force Officer Jason Pearce-Best.
The Attorney General’s Award for Meritorious Public Service is the top public service award granted by the Department and is designed to recognize the most significant contributions of citizens and organizations that have assisted the Department in the accomplishment of its missions and objectives. This award is presented to District Attorney Summer Stephan for the County of San Diego California.
The Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country is designed to recognize extraordinary efforts to demonstrate the Department's commitment to fight crime in Indian Country.
The first Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country is presented to Victim Assistant Specialists Brandi Duvall, Taelyn Langford, and Karriem Harris for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
The second Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country is presented to Supervisory Grants Management Specialists Anne Hamilton and LeBretia White of the Office of Justice Programs; Principal Deputy Director Katherine Darke Schmitt of the Office of Justice Programs; and Grant Management Specialists Jessica Andrew, Mary Atlas-Terry, Yolanda Curtis Gibson, Dawn Hill, Tanya Miller, Ramesa Pitts, Alexis Polen, Barbara L. Robertson, Carmen Santiago Roberts, Lori Gardner, Jenny Semanta Stancell, and Kimberly R. Woodard of the Office of Justice Programs.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Management is designed to recognize outstanding administrative or managerial achievements which have significantly improved the operations or productivity of the Department or have reduced costs. This award is presented to Director Christian C. Alvarez of the Justice Management Division’s Finance Staff; Deputy Director Matthew J. Roper of the Justice Management Division’s Finance Staff; Associate Directors Jeffrey D. Pullen and Nathaniel H. Wheeler of the Justice Management Division’s Finance Staff; Assistant Directors Marc Berlove and Vu C. Truong of the Justice Management Division’s Finance Staff; Finance Management Specialists Dara L. Sabanosh and Catherine Green-Lee of the Justice Management Division; Systems Accountant Jocelyn M. Harris of the Justice Management Division; Supervisory IT Specialist Leon Braddell of the Justice Management Division; and IT Specialists Giles T. Welles, Vincent B. Anderson, and Reena J. Shah of the Justice Management Division; and IT Specialist Jerome K. Milligan of the Justice Management Division.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Information Technology is designed to recognize outstanding achievements in applying information technology to improve the operations or productivity of the Department, reduce or avoid costs, or solve problems. Two Awards for Excellence in Information Technology are presented this year.
The first Award for Excellence in Information Technology is presented to Special Assistant to the Assistant Director Edward Stely in the ATF’s Office of Enforcement Programs and Services; ATF Special Agent Cassandra Mullins; ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Maynard; ATF Intelligence Research Specialist Stacie Alvey of the Louisville Field Division; ATF Acting Branch Chief Carl A. O’Day of the Application Development Branch; and Colonel Philip Burnette Jr. and Lieutenant Colonel Larry Newton of the Kentucky State Police.
The second Award for Excellence in Information Technology is presented to DEA Chief Information Officer Nick Ward; Senior Counsel Leonard Bailey of the Criminal Division; FBI Supervisory Special Agent Michael Bettine; Attorney Advisor Gabriel Slater of the National Security Division; Deputy Cyber Chief Sean Newell of the National Security Division; and Chief Information Security Officer Vu Nguyen of the Justice Management Division; Deputy Chief Information Security Officer Kevin Yasuda of the Justice Management Division; and Acting Assistant Director Larry Tun of the Justice Management Division’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.
The Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security is designed to recognize a special act or service by a Department employee who has greatly contributed to protecting U.S. national security. The 2023 award is presented to FBI Computer Scientist Michael R. Berger; FBI Staff Operations Specialist Katherine Miles; FBI Intelligence Analyst Laci Falk; FBI Special Agents Chad R. Loewenstine, Jason Moore, Jonathan R. Perlstein, Martin A. Quintana, Justin H. Rowland and Taylor M. Forry; FBI Intelligence Analysts Adam E. Foster and Alec T. Hass Cyber Division; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Richardson for the District of New York.