United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan announced today that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and San Francisco FBI received seven Director's Awards from the Department of Justice.  The Director's Awards are given to Assistant United States Attorneys from around the country who demonstrate superior performance in the prosecution of nationally significant cases, and for others who make outstanding contributions to law enforcement.  Five Assistant U.S. Attorneys received the Director's Award along with one financial fraud investigator and one FBI agent. 

The awards were presented to the recipients on Friday in Washington in a ceremony conducted by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Acting Deputy Attorney General Robert McCallum, and Guy Lewis, Director of the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys.  The recipients were AUSAs David R. Callaway and Audra S. Ibarra from the San Jose office for United States v. Rostoker, AUSA Jeffrey W. Cole for United States v. Powers & Garcia, and AUSAs Matthew J. Jacobs and Hartley M.K. West, Financial Fraud Investigator Phillip Villanueva and FBI Agent Jason Richards for United States v. Dejanu. 

The Justice Department's Director's Awards, now in their 20^th year, recognize lawyers, federal and state agents and support personnel who have brought significant and difficult prosecutions, and for excellence in law enforcement in the 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices across the country.  The Awards come from DOJ's Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, which provide oversight, general executive assistance and direction to U.S. Attorneys Offices around the country.

The Rostoker case involved the successful prosecution of Michael Rostoker, a California patent attorney, who traveled to Vietnam to engage in sexual activity with a 13-year-old Vietnamese schoolgirl.  This was one of the first cases of its kind to apply the statute prohibiting foreign travel in pursuit of unlawful sexual activity.  The defendant was convicted after a hard-fought trial and sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. 

In Powers & Garcia, two correctional officers at Pelican Bay State Prison were prosecuted in a two-month trial for violating prisoners' civil rights by targeting certain sexual offenders.  The evidence at trial showed that correctional officers encouraged or assisted other inmates in stabbing or assaulting the sex offenders.  The defendants, Mr. Powers and Mr. Garcia were sentenced to 84 months and 76 months respectively in prison.

The Dejanu prosecution resulted in the conviction of Phongsoon Dejanu and two others based on a highly complex international bank fraud scheme involving tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent loans, and included fraudulent conduct that lasted more than a decade.  Dejanu was convicted after a five-week trial that included testimony from approximately 40 witnesses, including two of the defendant's children and his common-law wife.  The lead defendant was ultimately sentenced to more than nine years in prison and forfeited more than $6 million to the taxpayers.

"Those honored today are shepherds of justice dedicated to the enhancement of liberty through the law," said Attorney General John Ashcroft.  Speaking to recipients of the Directors' Award, he said, "You have kept America safe from terrorism, brought violent crime to an historic 30-year low, forged new relationships of trust and cooperation, and most of all, protected and defended the Constitutional rights of all Americans."  The Attorney General pointed out that last year, crime rates reached a 30-year low, including the lowest rate ever of crimes involving firearms.  Moreover, under the direction of the Corporate Fraud Task Force, headed by the Deputy Attorney General and includes U.S. Attorney Ryan, there were a record number of corporate fraud cases brought.

U.S. Attorney Ryan said, "There is a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication that goes into a successful prosecution.  Each of these cases–Rostoker, Powers/Garcia, and Dejanu–involved tremendous obstacles that were confronted by AUSAs, agents and support staff who brought persistence, integrity and professionalism to the task.  I am heartened that the Department of Justice has formally recognized the excellence of the work we are doing in the Northern District of California."