Award recognizes outstanding performance as a Federal prosecutor
PITTSBURGH - Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon is the 2021 recipient of the Dick Thornburgh Award, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today. Former U.S. Attorney Scott Brady established the annual award to recognize outstanding performance by an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
AUSA Sheehan-Balchon, of Westmoreland County, oversees the U.S. Attorney’s Johnstown branch office. She joined the office in March 2019 and is prosecuting several of the western District’s highest profile cases:
* U.S. v. John Bisbee et al. - Forty-two individuals were accused of bringing kilogram quantities of methamphetamine from Atlanta for distribution throughout northcentral Pennsylvania. It is the largest drug investigation and prosecution in the history of Clearfield County.
* U.S. v. Mikal Davis et al. - Thirty-two individuals were accused of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine from April 2019 to July 2021.
* U.S. v. Jon Osewalt - Osewalt was indicted in September 2021 on charges of producing and possessing images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
* Operation Tri-County - This wiretap investigation resulted in charges against 20 individuals for conspiring to use the U.S. mail to receive kilogram quantities of cocaine for distribution in Lawrence County and surrounding counties from 2017 through May 2019.
AUSA Sheehan-Balchon received the award during an in-office Service Recognition Ceremony.
The Dick Thornburgh Award is presented annually to an outstanding federal prosecutor in the Western District of Pennsylvania who exhibits the commitment to justice and the highest ethical standards that were embodied by General Thornburgh throughout his career. Mr. Thornburgh was a former Attorney General of the United States, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Governor.
The inaugural award was presented to AUSA Brendan T. Conway, Chief of the Major Crimes Section, on November 5, 2020.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
