WASHINGTON - Four Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) from the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), one paralegal, and three law enforcement partners were among those recognized by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Director James Crowell, IV, of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), at the 35th Director’s Awards Ceremony today in Washington D.C. The EDNY was one of 31 districts represented at the ceremony, which was held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.
Deputy Attorney General Rosen told the awardees, “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."
EOUSA Director Crowell said, “The Department of Justice is in truth a deployed force. Your work isn’t easy, but it is vital to the functioning and enduring nature of our democracy. As federal prosecutors, we are held to a higher standard, a standard that requires us to ensure that we uphold the rule of law and the fundamental rules of fairness in every trial, every settlement, every plea, and every legal argument in which we are involved."
Immigration Litigation
AUSA Joseph A. Marutollo was recognized for his exemplary performance in leading the district’s demanding civil immigration practice. Since his appointment as Chief of Immigration Litigation in May 2017, AUSA Marutollo has exhibited exceptional dedication in overseeing more than 800 affirmative and defensive immigration cases and in managing a host of putative class-actions in cases of national significance. He has demonstrated remarkable initiative in taking on key roles in defending challenges to national immigration policies, including high-profile actions seeking to enjoin the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the termination of Temporary Protected Status designations and the use of immigration detainers. Additionally, AUSA Marutollo has creatively and successfully defended the government in a variety of cases at trial and on appeal, and Second Circuit and District Court judges have recognized his advocacy skills. AUSA Marutollo serves as a model of excellence in the handling of the district’s important immigration litigation.
U.S. v. alFarekh
AUSAs Richard Tucker, Douglas Pravda and Saritha Komatireddy, Counterterrorism Section Trial Attorney Alicia Cook, Paralegal Specialist Wayne Colon, Federal Bureau of Investigation Acting Supervisory Special Agent Shawn Dolinar and New York City Police Department Detective John Darino were recognized for their outstanding performance in the prosecution and conviction of Muhanad alFarekh. al-Farekh, a U.S. citizen who left college and traveled to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, participated in a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack against a U.S. military base in Khost, Afghanistan, in 2009, and eventually ascended to a leadership role in alQaeda’s external operations group. The investigation took the team around the globe to locales such as Afghanistan and Morocco. They deposed an al-Qaeda facilitator in a Middle Eastern country under grueling conditions to secure critical testimony. They introduced battlefield forensic evidence and computer media acquired in Afghanistan under highly sensitive circumstances. The team also successfully litigated a variety of unprecedented and classified issues. Their victory after a three-week trial in September 2017 resulted in a 45-year prison sentence imposed in March 2018.
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. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, visit www.justice.gov/usao/nye.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
