BoS case prosecutor gets national award

Patrick J. Smith from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Saipan has been chosen as one of the recipients of this year’s Director’s Awards for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

According to U.S. Attorney Leonardo M. Rapadas, Smith was presented the award yesterday at the 21st annual Executive Office for the United States Attorneys Director’s Awards Ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rapadas said that Smith received his award “for his outstanding work in the complex prosecution of individuals who defrauded the Bank of Saipan of over $7 million.”

Smith was among 224 award recipients who received recognition for their excellence in law enforcement. Recipients included Assistant U.S. Attorneys, litigation and information technology support personnel, as well as others who have made outstanding contributions in federal, state, and local enforcement.

“I commend all of the award recipients for their extraordinary accomplishments,” said Attorney General John Ashcroft. “You have made a difference that has expended the freedom of the American people—giving them freedom from terrorism, freedom from crime, freedom from the dependency of drugs, and freedom from dishonesty and deception in our financial markets. Your work, your lives, and your actions have changed lives for the better, ensuring that every American is equal under the law and protected by the United States Constitution.”

“These awards recognize the impressive achievements of 224 of the nation’s finest public servants,” said Mary Beth Buchanan, director of the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys at the Department of Justice. “They are the prosecutors, secretaries, paralegals, IT specialists, officers, agents, and others whose hard work makes our nation safer and our system of justice stronger.”

Working together, the nation’s law enforcement and justice community have:

* Driven the violent crime rate to its lowest level in 30 years;

* Increased gun-crime prosecutions by 68 percent in just three years—and as a consequence, over the past three years the number of gun crimes has decreased by more than $250,000;

* Charged more than 900 violators in more than 400 cases since the inception of the Corporate Fraud Task Force. To date, more than 500 individuals have been convicted, including the prosecution of top executives whom have been shown do not stand above the law;

* Dismantled 14 major drug-trafficking networks and seriously disrupted eight more over the past two years alone;

* Stopped human trafficking. In the fiscal years of 2001 to 2003, 210 new human-trafficking investigations were opened. That is double the number of the previous three years;

* Charged 439 individuals for criminal civil rights violations over the past three fiscal years. This is more than were charged during the preceding three years; and

* Obtained the single largest civil penalty in history against a single company for violations of an environmental statute. Through tough enforcement of the Clean Air Act, a reduction in air pollution of over $465,000 tons per year has been achieved. And courts imposed more than $179 million in civil penalties for violations in environmental cases, second only to fiscal year 2003’s record-setting recovery or $203 million.

The Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys provides oversight, general executive assistance and direction to the 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country.