CRIMINAL DIVISION
The Criminal Division is generally divided into three sections, although all criminal AUSAs and staff are often asked to handle cases in other sections. AUSAs are assigned to coordinate specialized areas of law as follows:
APPELLATE SECTION
The Appellate Unit reviews all criminal appellate filings, supervises moot courts before oral arguments in appellate cases, provides legal advice to other AUSAs, acts as liaison on appellate matters with the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division and the Solicitor General in Washington, D.C., writes briefs and argues cases in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and provides training for newly hired attorneys.
FRAUD and SPECIAL PROSECUTION SECTION
" White Collar" crimes AUSAs are responsible for prosecuting a wide range of crimes including healthcare fraud, financial institution fraud, bankruptcy fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud, money laundering and wire fraud. Environmental cases prosecuted under the Clean Water Act (CLEA) and Federal environmental statutes are also handled by this unit. Project Safe Child AUSAs also handle child exploitation cases. Most of which involve defendants who met children on the internet and then traveled, or caused them to travel, for the purpose of having sex with them, as well as the production and distribution of child pornography.
The Special Prosecutions AUSAs handle a diverse array of criminal matters, including public corruption, civil rights violations, hate crimes, and immigration law offenses.
Computer Crimes AUSAs investigate and prosecute all federal computer crimes committed within the Western District of North Carolina, including computer intrusions, denial of service attacks, virus and worm proliferation, Internet fraud, and telecommunications fraud. Prosecutors in this section are also responsible for prosecuting intellectual property offenses, including copyright and trademark infringement, software piracy, theft of trade secrets and economic espionage.
NARCOTICS and VIOLENT CRIME SECTION
The Narcotics Violent Crime section is primarily responsible for investigating and prosecuting drug and firearm cases. Attorneys in this section are primarily responsible for prosecuting large scale sophisticated drug trafficking organizations. They also handle many of the most significant violent crime cases including cases involving terrorism, murder, kidnaping, carjacking, assault, and bank robbery.