11 Assistant United States Attorneys and Two Federal Agent Partners Recognized by Deputy Attorney General at Department of Justice Director’s Awards Ceremony

WASHINGTON – Eleven Assistant United States Attorneys from the Eastern District of New York and two federal agent partners were among those recognized by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Director James Crowell, IV, of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), at the 34th Director’s Awards Ceremony today, which was held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.

In his prepared remarks, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein told the awardees, “Today’s honorees earned the esteem of their colleagues.  But most importantly, they earned the gratitude of our fellow citizens — the people whose communities you made safer, whose lives you improved, and whose trust you rewarded. Today, we pause to honor and recognize a small portion of your work.

U.S. v. Deutsche Bank

Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew R. Belz, Edward K. Newman and Jeremy Turk, as well as former Assistant United States Attorney Ryan M. Wilson and Special Agent Jeffrey Fata, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General, received the award for their exemplary performance in bringing about an historic $7.2 billion settlement against Deutsche Bank for its material misrepresentations in the sale of residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS). 

U.S. v. Paul Rivera, et al.

Criminal Division Deputy Chief Taryn A. Merkl, Business and Securities Fraud Section Deputy Chief Alixandra E. Smith and Assistant United States Attorney Michael Robotti received the award for their outstanding performance in the investigation and prosecution of United States v. Paul Rivera, et al.  In Rivera, the two leaders of the “TF Mafia,” a violent Brooklyn gang, were convicted after an 11-week trial of racketeering conspiracy; racketeering involving predicate acts of sex trafficking, sex trafficking of children, murder, narcotics trafficking, money laundering and witness tampering; and substantive offenses, including murder-in-aid-of racketeering and firearms charges. 

Disruption and Early Engagement Program

Criminal Division Chief Seth D. DuCharme, Assistant United States Attorney Melody Wells and Special Agent Joseph Rudnick of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Field Office, were recognized for their outstanding work in the development and implementation of the Disruption and Early Engagement Program (“DEEP”) counterterrorism and prevention initiative launched here in 2016 to meet growing challenges facing the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and other law enforcement partners due largely to the rise of ISIS. 

Hobby Lobby

Cultural Property Coordinator Karin Orenstein was recognized for her outstanding accomplishments in using civil forfeiture to combat illicit cultural property trafficking, as well as her efforts to return smuggled antiquities to their country of origin through repatriation.  In United States v. 450 Ancient Cuneiform Tablets, she negotiated the forfeiture of thousands of Iraqi artifacts that were improperly imported by retailer Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., including 3,450 cuneiform tablets and clay bullae, and an additional 144 cylinder seals that were forfeited as substitute assets. 

Operation Fallen Hero

Senior Litigation Counsel Andrea Goldbarg and her team members at the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division were recognized for successfully investigating and prosecuting members of Los Zetas cartel who brutally murdered Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Jaime Zapata and wounded HSI Special Agent Victor Avila in February 2011 during an attempted carjacking in Mexico.  

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.justice.gov/usao.  For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, visit www.justice.gov/usao/nye.