ELEVEN LAWYERS IN MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HONORED AT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY

LawFuel.com – United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OCTOBER 27, 2010 ELLEN DAVIS,

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced today that several
representatives of the Office are recipients of this year’s
Attorney General awards. Assistant U.S. Attorneys JEFFREY
ALBERTS, ANNA E. ARREOLA, SHARON COHEN LEVIN, TARA LaMORTE, AMY
LESTER, MATTHEW L. SCHWARTZ, JONATHAN R. STREETER, SERRIN A.
TURNER, JEANNETTE A. VARGAS, and LI YU, and former Assistant U.S.
Attorney SEAN LANE, who was sworn in as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
in September 2010, were honored today at the Department’s 58th
Annual Awards Ceremony at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington,
D.C.
The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service
is the Department’s second highest award for employee
performance. TARA LaMORTE, SEAN LANE, JEANNETTE A. VARGAS, and
LI YU were honored with this award for their extraordinary work
in the Chrysler LLC bankruptcy proceedings. The recipients
successfully litigated the motion to approve the
government-financed sale of Chrysler LLC assets to a new company
owned in part by Fiat, the United States, and Canada. The team
also included the Deputy Solicitor General and a trial attorney
from the Solicitor General’s Office.
The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service
was also awarded to seventeen individuals, including SERRIN A.
TURNER, for their significant contribution to the review of
Guantanamo detainees conducted last year by the Guantanamo Review
Task Force. In various leadership roles, the recipients were
responsible for directing, guiding, and supporting the review
effort to ensure that the task force collected and analyzed all
relevant information, and provided informed and reasoned
recommendations to senior officials.
The John Marshall Awards recognize attorneys for
outstanding professional contributions and excellence in
specialized areas of legal performance. Six Assistant U.S.
Attorneys from this Office received the John Marshall Award for
Asset Forfeiture for their extraordinary work in forfeiting
assets on behalf of victims of the massive securities fraud
executed by Marc Dreier. In addition to securing a preliminary
forfeiture order that imposed a $746.7 million judgment against
Dreier and ordered the forfeiture of Dreier’s interest in 177
properties worth more than $80 million, the team helped pioneer a
model for handling simultaneous collateral litigation of
forfeiture, bankruptcy, and securities enforcement actions.
Recipients were SHARON COHEN LEVIN, Chief of the Asset Forfeiture
Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys JEFFREY ALBERTS, ANNA E.
ARREOLA, AMY LESTER, MATTHEW L. SCHWARTZ, and JONATHAN R.
STREETER.
“It is my pleasure to congratulate this year’s Attorney
General Award winners and to recognize their extraordinary
contributions,” Attorney General Holder said. “Not only is their
service to our nation inspiring, it is strengthening the work of
the Justice Department at every level and making a powerful
difference for people across our country, and far beyond. This
year’s awardees exemplify the Department’s finest traditions, and
I am privileged, and grateful, to count them as colleagues.”
Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “It is a
privilege to lead such a talented and dedicated group of
professionals, and I congratulate them on receiving this welldeserved
acknowledgment for their outstanding service to this
Office, to the Department of Justice, and to the United States.
The level of their commitment to their work cannot be overstated,
and I heartily congratulate and thank them for their dedication
and extraordinary efforts.”
The Attorney General’s Annual Awards Ceremony provides
an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of a number of
U.S. Department of Justice employees as well as individuals from
outside the Department.
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