GREENSBORO — Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina Matthew G.T. Martin announced that the Department of Justice is taking a dramatic step to increase resources to combat violent crime, enforce our immigration laws, and help impact the devastating opioid crisis.
In the largest increase in decades, the Department of Justice is allocating 311 new Assistant United States Attorneys to assist in priority areas. Those allocations are as follows: 190 violent crime prosecutors, 86 civil enforcement prosecutors, and 35 additional immigration prosecutors.
Many of the civil enforcement AUSA’s will support the newly created Prescription Interdiction & Litigation Task Force which targets the opioid crisis at every level of the distribution system.
“Under President Trump’s strong leadership, the Department of Justice is going on offense against violent crime, illegal immigration, and the opioid crisis — and today we are sending in reinforcements,” Sessions said. “We have a saying in my office that a new federal prosecutor is ‘the coin of the realm.’ When we can eliminate wasteful spending, one of my first questions to my staff is if we can deploy more prosecutors to where they are needed.
“I have personally worked to re-purpose existing funds to support this critical mission, and as a former federal prosecutor myself, my expectations could not be higher,” he continued. “These exceptional and talented prosecutors are key leaders in our crime fighting partnership. This addition of new assistant U.S. attorney positions represents the largest increase in decades.”
In the Middle District of North Carolina, two of these AUSAs will focus on violent crime, and one will focus on civil enforcement. The Middle District office is responsible for enforcing federal law in 24 counties: Alamance, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Orange, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin. These counties are home to approximately 3 million North Carolinians.
“These three new prosecutor positions are crucial to our office’s ability to reduce violent crime, attack exploitation, and impact the opioid crisis in this region,” said Martin. “The public’s investment of these positions in our office will pay dividends in public safety and law enforcement. We are committed to getting the job done on behalf of our citizens.”