Five Colorado Assistant U.S. Attorneys among those Honored by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland

DENVER -- The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that five Assistant United States Attorneys from Colorado were among those honored by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland this afternoon during the 70^th and 71^st  Annual Attorney General’s award ceremony.   

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob Licht, Katherine Ross, Nicholas Deuschle, David Moskowitz, and Andrew Soler received the John Marshall Award for Alternative Dispute Resolution for their work concerning the 416 Fire, which burned on public and private lands near Durango in 2018.   The resolution of that dispute recovered $20 million to compensate the United States for damages caused by the fire.  The terms of the proposed resolution also allowed the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to continue to operate, under specific conditions designed to reduce the risk of future fires.  More information about that resolution can be found here.

The Attorney General’s award ceremony celebrated numerous other public servants from the Department of Justice and its partners for their extraordinary contributions to the enforcement of our nations laws.

“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." 

“Exceptional public servants work at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan, who was on hand for today’s event.  “Coloradans have every right to be proud of the work that this office accomplishes every day in the pursuit of justice.”

More details about the award ceremony can be found here.