Receives Attorney General's Award For Exceptional Service In Indian Country
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - On Nov. 10, 2016, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch recognized 376 department employees for their distinguished public service at the 64th Annual Attorney General’s Awards Ceremony. Forty-seven other individuals outside of the department were also honored for their work. This annual ceremony recognizes individuals for their outstanding service and dedication to carrying out the missions of the Department of Justice.
“The Attorney General’s Awards provide us with a rare opportunity to honor the efforts of outstanding department employees and our invaluable partners across the federal government and at the state and local levels," said Attorney General Lynch. “Their work has made our nation - and our world - stronger, safer and more just, and I am proud of and inspired by each and every one of them."
In particular, the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service in Indian Country recognizes extraordinary efforts by department employees who demonstrate the department’s commitment to fighting crime in Indian Country. This year’s award is presented to, from the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Trial Attorney J. Michael Sheckels; from the Criminal Division’s Appellate Section, Trial Attorney Richard A. Friedman; from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Oklahoma, Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Snow; from the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office, Supervisory Special Agent John W. Fitzer and Special Agent Joshua W. Martin; from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent John Jones; and from the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police, Chief Kent Dowell.
On March 3, 2004, David Magnan entered a house on an Indian allotment in rural Seminole County, Oklahoma, and with premeditation shot three Native American occupants to death as they lay in their beds. Originally convicted in state court under the misapprehension of the status of the land where the house was located, that conviction was set aside in 2013 after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the Indian title to the land had not been extinguished. Working at great disadvantage given the passage of time, this team worked tirelessly to locate the witnesses and evidence necessary to secure a conviction at trial on all three murder counts, keep a dangerous killer off the streets and obtain justice for the victims’ families.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
