LOS ANGELES – United States Attorney Nick Hanna is
presenting awards today to more than 200 members of law enforcement agencies
for their outstanding work in dozens of cases prosecuted by the United States
Attorney’s Office. During the office’s annual Law Enforcement Awards ceremony,
officials from federal and local agencies – as well as six Canadian police
officers – are being honored for their work in rooting out criminal wrongdoing
in Southern California.
“We honor these brave and committed agents, officers and
employees of our partner agencies for their tirelessness commitment to maintain
public safety and preserve the freedoms all Americans enjoy,” said U.S.
Attorney Hanna.
The award recipients are being honored for their
contributions towards protecting U.S. national security, responding to the
opioid epidemic, combating fraud, fighting public corruption, preventing
cyber-crime attacks, and enforcing the nation’s environmental laws.
Those honored included two FBI Special Agents who worked
tirelessly to track down witnesses and evidence from two decades ago that
helped secure a guilty plea from a gang member who participated in the slaying
of an African-American man in Highland Park in 1999. Merced Cambero, who along
with fellow gang members shot and killed Kenny Wilson as part of a series of
racially motivated crimes, was brought to justice last year after more than a
decade as a fugitive. Earlier this year, Cambero pleaded guilty to federal
civil rights charges and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
More than a dozen FBI agents, intelligence analysts and
specialists received awards for groundbreaking work that culminated in a
criminal complaint charging a North Korean computer programmer with being part
of a government-backed conspiracy to conduct a series of destructive
cyberattacks around the world, including an attack that decimated Sony Pictures
Entertainment and others that targeted financial institutions and U.S. defense
contractors. The charges were the first ever brought by the U.S. against a
North Korean citizen for malicious cyber activity.
A team from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’
Office of Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigation were honored for
their work leading to the conviction of David Richard Scott, a parking lot
operator who cheated the VA out more than $13 million. Scott received a
70-month prison sentence, was ordered to pay $12.6 million in restitution, and
was ordered to forfeit $8 million in assets. The Veterans Affairs’ contracting
official who took bribes from Scott for 15 years pleaded guilty and was
sentenced to prison in September.
The honorees at today’s ceremony came from the following law
enforcement agencies:
Federal Bureau of
Investigation
Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Internal Revenue
Service – Criminal Investigation
Simi Valley Police
Department
Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department
U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations
Alcohol and
Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General
California
Department of Insurance – Fraud Division
U.S. Department of
Labor, Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of
State
U.S. Postal
Service, Office of Inspector General
U.S. Postal Inspection
Service
U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General
Drug Enforcement
Administration
U.S. Department of
Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General
Riverside County
Probation Department
Riverside County
Sheriff’s Department
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
U.S. Department of
Transportation, Office of Inspector General
Los Angeles County
Fire Department, Arson Investigation Unit
South Gate Police
Department
El Monte Police
Department
Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department, Special Enforcement Bureau – Arson Explosive Detail
U.S. Coast Guard
Investigative Service
U.S. Coast Guard
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division
Royal Canadian Mounted
Police
Sûreté du Québec
Sûreté du Québec
de police de la Ville de Montréal
U.S. Department of
State, Diplomatic Security Service
Federal Housing
Finance Authority, Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of
State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security
U.S. Department of
State, Foreign Service National Investigator
Torrance Police
Department
U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, Office of Professional Responsibility
Los Angeles County
Probation Department
Long Beach Police
Department
U.S Attorney Hanna said, “We are eternally grateful the hard
work and sacrifice given by these members of law enforcement. Every one of the
honorees serves as a prime example of the outstanding commitment shown by every
law enforcement officer who serves the public.”
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