Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announces that yesterday in Washington, D.C. Attorney General Eric Holder presented 278 Justice Department employees and 10 individuals, including one Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida with Attorney General Awards. These annual awards recognize department employees and other individuals for their dedication to carrying out the Department of Justice’s mission.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer stated, “This awards confirms that which I already know - that the attorneys and staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office are of the highest caliber in the nation. I am proud that the Department has recognized AUSA Kevin Larsen for this well-deserved award. His dedication, hard work and commitment to the cause of justice makes him a worthy recipient of this great honor."
“With this important event, we come together to honor some of our nation’s most distinguished, dedicated, and deserving public servants," said Attorney General Holder. “The hard work and impressive achievements of these 278 award recipients have inspired their colleagues at every level of the U.S. Department of Justice - including me. Their leadership has been indispensable in defining the past year as one of historic accomplishment in the face of nearly unprecedented challenge."
In the Southern District of Florida, the following individual was recognized for the following award:
The Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention recognizes exceptional dedication and effort to prevent, investigate and prosecute fraud, white-collar crimes and official corruption. This team is honored for its exceptional perseverance, diligence and vision in the investigation, litigation and prosecution of allegations that Johnson & Johnson and two of its subsidiaries, Janssen and Scios, improperly promoted drugs, disregarded patient safety and paid kickbacks to enhance sales. The resolution marks the culmination of an extensive, coordinated eight-year investigation. The team’s extraordinary efforts resulted in three civil complaints and two criminal informations filed in the three different districts, and demonstrated an exemplary use of parallel proceedings. More important, the team’s efforts resulted in Johnson & Johnson paying in excess of $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from its illegal misbranding and fraudulent marketing of drugs to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children and those with developmental disabilities, and its payment of kickbacks to physicians and the nation’s largest long-term care pharmacy provider. The global resolution is the third largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history, and with respect to Risperdal, the resolution is the largest settlement for one drug.
This year’s award is presented to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin James Larsen from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
