Criminals take note: On 500th day of Trump Administration, 311 new Assistant United States Attorney Positions announced

CEDAR RAPIDS – On the 500th day of the Trump Administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa Peter E. Deegan, Jr. announced 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. Those allocations are as follows: 190 violent crime prosecutors, 86 civil enforcement prosecutors, and 35 additional immigration prosecutors. 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 Attorney General Jeff 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.”

In the Northern District of Iowa, two of these AUSAs will focus on violent crime. The addition of these two AUSAs brings the total number of AUSAs in the district to 26, representing an increase of over 7%.

“The new Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Northern District of Iowa will be dedicated to working with all of our law enforcement partners to help keep our communities safe,” said United States Attorney Deegan. “Our office remains committed to fighting violent crime and these new positions will allow us to bring even more prosecutors to the fight.”