DOJ OIG Senior Special Agent Receives Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service

Senior Special Agent James J. Marra of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General was a recent recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service. Senior Special Agent Marra was on a team of prosecutors and agents that was honored:

• For its extraordinary efforts to capture and prosecute James J. ‘Whitey’ Bulger and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine E. Grieg. Bulger, one of the country’s most notorious criminals, had eluded capture for his crimes for over 16 years, helped in no small part by Grieg. In June 2011, Federal law enforcement officials developed a public campaign that focused on Greig, rather than Bulger. The campaign worked, and Bulger and Greig were located in a Santa Monica, California, apartment along with over $800,000 in cash and 30 firearms. Bulger and Greig were then successfully prosecuted. Greig received one of the highest sentences for harboring a fugitive ever imposed in the United States. Bulger, after a 10-week trial, was convicted of multiple offenses, and in November 2013, was sentenced to consecutive life terms. Bulger’s trial was a monumental undertaking, involving evidence spanning more than 20 years of criminal conduct, including 19 charged murders. Over the course of the 10-week trial, the Government called almost 70 witnesses, many of whom were hostile, advanced in age, and murderers themselves. Following trial, the team also resolved several difficult and novel victim-related forfeiture issues.

The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service is the Department’s second highest award for employee performance. The Attorney General presented the award during the Attorney General’s 62nd Annual Awards Ceremony this afternoon at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.