U.S. DOJ adding prosecutors in Oregon, elsewhere

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Billy J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, announced Monday that the Department of Justice is taking a dramatic step to increase resources to combat violent crime, enforce our immigration laws, and help roll back 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, the department said in a news release. Those allocations are as follows: 190 violent crime prosecutors, 86 civil enforcement prosecutors, and 35 additional immigration prosecutors. The District of Oregon will receive one prosecutor in each of the three targeted areas.

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,” said Sessions. “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. 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.”

“The mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is to pursue justice and ensure public safety. Adding three new prosecutors to our staff will help us extend the reach of our mission across the state,” Williams said. “Reducing violent crime, enforcing immigration law, and attacking health care fraud that fuels the opioid epidemic are central to achieving our mission. Expanding our staff in each of these priority areas will have an immediate, positive impact on the lives of Oregonians.”