Criminal Division
The Criminal Division for the District of Alaska consists of a Criminal Chief and twelve Assistant United States Attorneys (one of whom is based in the Fairbanks U.S. Attorneys Office ). The Division is responsible for enforcing more than 900 federal statutes which are created by acts of Congress.
The Criminal Division consists of two broad specialty units - White Collar Crime Section and the Violent Crimes, Drugs and Anti-Terrorism Sections - as well as Asset Forfeiture. Further subdivisions are as follows:
The White Collar Crime section is subdivided into:
- Environmental/Wildlife Crime
- Health Care Fraud
- Cyber Crime
- Tax Crime
- Government Fraud/Bankruptcy Fraud
The Violent Crime, Drugs and Anti-Terrorism Section is sub-divided into:
- Anti-Terrorism
- Organized Crime/Drug Task Force
- Rural Alcohol and Drugs
- Rural Guns
- General Crimes
- Project Safe Neighborhood/Project Sentry
The Criminal Division prosecutes mainly felony offenses. An active misdemeanor docket does exist, however, and consists of the prosecution of minor offenses occurring in federal parks or other federal enclaves.
Felony offenses are brought to the attention of the United States Attorney's Office in a variety of ways. In many instances, federal prosecutors are involved in a federal task force which is pursuing a pending investigation. The Assistant United States Attorney involved in this type of case is often actively involved in identifying targets, developing investigative strategy, advising undercover officers about different approaches, drafting search warrants and other court process, and finally, working with a grand jury to not only discover evidence, but to select appropriate charges.
In other cases, a complaint may be brought to the attention of the United States Attorney's Office or to the appropriate investigative agency. If brought first to the United States Attorney's Office, the complaint will be forwarded to the agency. While this Office generally supplies guidance and legal advice, the agencies are primarily responsible for investigating federal offenses prior to the time the United States Attorney's Office initiates prosecution.
The chief investigative agencies are: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service, Department of Interior, Federal Aviation Administration, US Coast Guard, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The United States Constitution requires that federal felonies be charged by grand jury indictment unless the defendant consents to prosecution by way of information. An Indictment is a written accusation by a grand jury which charges the defendant with commission of a crime. An information is a written criminal charge filed by the United Sates Attorney without the involvement of the grand jury. Multiple charges in an indictment or an information are referred to as counts.
The United Sates District Courts are vested with power to summon, instruct and impanel grand juries, which consist of at least sixteen and not more than twenty-three persons. The function of the grand jury is to hear evidence of suspected violations of federal law and determine whether there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and that a particular person or corporation committed it. No federal grand jury can indict without the concurrence of the United States Attorney. The grand jury for the District of Alaska sits one week every month. Supporting all that the Criminal Division seeks to accomplish is a dedicated and hard-working staff of legal assistants, paralegals, clerical support, victim/witness coordinator, and student interns.