BROOKLYN, NY – Two Assistant United States Attorneys and a former Assistant United States Attorney of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York were included among the 163 members of the Department of Justice recognized by Attorney General Eric Holder and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) Director H. Marshall Jarrett at the 28th annual Director’s Awards Ceremony today in Washington D.C. The award ceremony was held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.

In his prepared remarks, Attorney General Holder told the award recipients that they “represent the very best that this Department has to offer” and that their “work embodies our ongoing commitment – not merely to win cases, but to do justice; to protect our fellow citizens; to empower the most vulnerable among us; and to uphold the rule of law.”

“Each day the members of the U.S. Attorneys’ community go to work for the citizens of this country with one goal in mind – to do everything they can to protect the rights of all Americans,” said EOUSA Director Jarrett. “I am continually humbled by their resiliency, dedication, and unparalleled work ethic to accomplish this noble mission. Today’s awardees exemplify what it truly means to be a patriot, and it is an honor to recognize them for their extraordinary service.”

From the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, Assistant United States Attorney James Miskiewicz and FBI Special Agents Charles Butruch and Angela Jett were selected to receive the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigative Team for their determined and successful investigation and prosecution of defendant Mehdi Gabayzadeh, the President and Chief Executive Officer of American Tissue Corporation, in one of the Department’s most significant corporate fraud cases; Assistant United States Attorney Tiana Demas was selected to receive the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Civil AUSA for her extraordinary accomplishments as a civil litigator and her numerous and invaluable contributions to the Department’s mission during her three years in the office, including successfully resolving United States v. Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., a civil penalty action brought on behalf of the United States Coast Guard under the Clean Water Act; and former Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Green, together with FBI Special Agents Antonio Rao and Ethan Via, New York State Department of Banking Investigators Delroy Levy and Robert Tarwacki, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Special Agents Gary Sherrill and Derek Evans, were selected to receive the Director’s Award for Superior Performance by a Litigative Team for the successful prosecution of one of the largest – if not the largest – mortgage fraud cases ever in which the victims suffered net losses exceeding $92 million.

EOUSA provides oversight, general executive assistance, and direction to the 94 United States Attorneys’ offices around the country. For more information on EOUSA and its mission, visit http://www.usdoj.gov/usao.

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