CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Steven R. Kaufman, Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of North Carolina (WDNC), was one of 179 members of the Department of Justice recognized by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) Director Monty Wilkinson at the 33rd Director’s Awards Ceremony today in Washington D.C.
The Western District of North Carolina was one of 35 districts represented at the ceremony, 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, “These 179 award recipients embody the best of the Department of Justice.… Today’s honorees have earned the esteem of their colleagues. But most importantly, you have earned the gratitude of your fellow citizens - whose communities you have made safer, whose lives you have improved, and whose trust you have rewarded. "
AUSA Kaufman was recognized for his “Superior Performance as Criminal Assistant United States Attorney." AUSA Kaufman is responsible for prosecuting some of the largest, most significant and most sophisticated Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) cases in the country. OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets. During his tenure, AUSA Kaufman has demonstrated his ability to identify large-scale drug traffickers, locate their international sources of supply, and cripple those organizations by seizing their money and property and obtaining convictions against their members for both drug trafficking and money laundering.
Among his accomplishments, in 2015, AUSA Kaufman secured the extradition from Mexico, and subsequent guilty plea and sentence, of Consolidated Priority Organizational Target (CPOT) and black tar heroin kingpin Carlos Ramon “Cuate" Castro-Rocha. AUSA Kaufman also recently completed a seven-year prosecution of 67 members of a cross-country drug trafficking organization that utilized commercial aircraft and insiders with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to transport large amounts of narcotics and drug proceeds cross-country. AUSA Kaufman also disrupted a complex methamphetamine drug trafficking network operating throughout the Western District, by securing prison sentences for more than 165 traffickers thus far.
As WDNC’s environmental crimes coordinator, AUSA Kaufman has successfully prosecuted numerous cases involving federal violations of the Clean Water and the Clean Air Acts. AUSA Kaufman also took part in the landmark criminal prosecution of Duke Energy, for the company’s illegal discharge of coal ash. AUSA Kaufman and his multi-district team continue to work with the court-appointed monitor to ensure the company’s environmental compliance.
AUSA Kaufman received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in 1990 from Tufts University, and his Juris Doctor in 1995 from Vanderbilt University School of Law. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, and performs his Reserve duty as the Staff Judge Advocate for the 94th Airlift Wing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia. AUSA Kaufman is originally from Westchester County in New York.
“Steven Kaufman is a deserving recipient of this prestigious award, in recognition of his exemplary work and outstanding achievements as a criminal prosecutor. Mr. Kaufman is a talented Assistant United States Attorney and a committed public servant. He is dedicated to furthering the mission of the Department of Justice in enforcing the laws of our nation, protecting the rights of our citizens, and bringing justice to victims of crimes," said Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
