Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Eric, for that generous introduction. And for your leadership.

I am grateful to be here in Wyoming, and to have the chance to thank, in person, our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners gathered around this table.

This group of leaders represent the law enforcement officers across the state who make daily sacrifices to protect the people of Wyoming. This also represents the collaborative approach that is at the heart of the Justice Department’s strategy to combat violent crime.

When I became Attorney General three and a half years ago, I knew that the most powerful tool we would have to address violent crime would be our partnerships. That was my experience as a line attorney prosecuting violent crime and narcotics trafficking in the early 1990s, and as a Justice Department official organizing and supervising those efforts later in the 1990s.

So, we built an anti-violent crime strategy rooted in strengthening our collaboration across federal law enforcement; with state, local, and Tribal law enforcement; and with the communities we all serve.

And we fortified those partnerships by bringing to bear the latest technologies for identifying and prosecuting the criminals who represent the greatest danger to our communities.

Now we have seen results. Last year, we saw one of the lowest violent crime rates in 50 years nationwide. That included the largest drop in homicides in 50 years.

But we know that progress in many communities is still uneven. And of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime.

The Justice Department is working here in Wyoming and across the country to arrest violent felons, disrupt violent drug trafficking, and prosecute the individuals responsible for the greatest violence.

Earlier this month, this U.S. Attorney’s Office secured a more-than-16-year sentence for a man who trafficked methamphetamine and fentanyl in Casper. When he was arrested, investigators found and seized 11 firearms, including a Glock model 17 with a conversion device. The device effectively made the weapon a fully automatic machine gun.

Also this month — working as part of the Safe Trails Task Force investigating drug trafficking on the Wind River Indian Reservation — this office charged a man we allege intended to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. During a search of his property, FBI agents seized more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, over 32 grams of fentanyl, and 14 firearms.

Last month, this office worked with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prosecute a man for drug and firearm offenses. The defendant was pulled over on the highway and a search uncovered 491 grams of cocaine, three rifles, two handguns, and a suppressor that could be threaded onto one of the handguns. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

In June, this office — together with the FBI, ATF, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, and Mills Police Department — secured the conviction of a felon on federal firearms offenses who engaged in a three-hour standoff with law enforcement. He was found in illegal possession of a semiautomatic rifle, two semiautomatic pistols, and ammunition.

And earlier this year — working with the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully prosecuted a man who shot and killed a victim in their home on the Wind River Indian Reservation. That defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in federal prison.

The examples I have shared today are just a snapshot of the work this office does every day to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to keep our communities safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.

I am very proud of the work of U.S. Attorney Heimann and of all the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming. And I am equally proud of the partnerships they have nurtured with the federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies around this table, which work every day to keep the people of Wyoming safe.

With that, we will begin our meeting.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

Source: Justice.gov