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Press Release
Press Release
VIRGINA BEACH, VIRGINIA –Assistant United States Attorney Heather L. Carlton was honored Tuesday at the Virginia Gang Investigators Association’s 20th Annual Gang Conference in being named the Federal Prosecutor of the Year.
AUSA Carlton was presented the award during a ceremony in Virginia Beach featuring law-enforcement leaders from across Virginia, including more than 500 gang investigators.
For more than 25 years, the Virginia Gang Investigators Association has been the premier law-enforcement association for training and up-to-date information on the latest trends and prevention techniques.
“I am thrilled that the VGIA has honored Heather Carlton with this award,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated. “Thanks in large part to her initiative and leadership—as well as the hard work of our federal, state, and local law-enforcement partners—we are making significant strides towards reducing violence in Danville. Nearly 20 alleged gang members are no longer operating on the streets of this community, and Heather and her task force partners are continuing their efforts to achieve a meaningful and lasting reduction in violent crime there.”
The Virginia Gang Association recognized AUSA Carlton for her work on the Rollin 60s and Milla Bloods racketeering indictments out of Danville, Virginia. The two indictments, returned in June 2018, charged 18 alleged gang members and associates from the City of Danville with crimes ranging from murder to drug distribution to obstruction of justice. At the time, U.S. Attorney Cullen called it “the largest and most significant federal prosecution of organized gang activity in the Western District of Virginia in at least a decade.”
AUSA Carlton also serves as the Deputy Criminal Chief for the Western District of Virginia and is responsible for the district’s Project Safe Neighborhoods [PSN] and violent-crime reduction strategies. Project Safe Neighborhoods fosters coordination and cooperation between federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies with the goal of reducing violent crime.
“Over the past year, Heather has been instrumental in establishing critical PSN infrastructure and directing PSN strategy in Danville and Roanoke,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated. “In addition, she recently helped secure a significant PSN grant for the Western District, which will be used to promote additional gang and violent-crime reduction strategies in other parts of our large district.”