U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch Recognizes Assistant U.S. Attorney from New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) in the District of New Mexico was one of 160 members of the Department of Justice recognized by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates, and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) Director Monty Wilkinson at the 31^st Director’s Awards Ceremony today in Washington D.C.

The District of New Mexico was one of 31 districts represented at the ceremony which was held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.   U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez joined Attorney General Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Yates in recognizing Mr. Adams for his outstanding service as a Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) to tribal communities and Native American women in New Mexico.

In her prepared remarks, Attorney General Lynch told the awardees, “Our honorees include career executives and supervisors; Assistant U.S. Attorneys and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys; appellate attorneys and law enforcement officials; administrators, paralegals, and public affairs officers," said Attorney General Lynch.  "These individuals, and so many others, have faced daunting and sometimes dangerous challenges.  They have dedicated their leadership and their expertise, their time and their energy, to the service of their mission.  And they have remained devoted, at all times, to the high ideals and deeply-held values that animate our country and our cause."

Attorney General Lynch commended Mr. Adams for his significant contributions to enhancing public safety in Indian Country and his commitment to combating violence against Native American women.  In his capacity as the Tribal SAUSA for New Mexico, Mr. Adams was responsible for developing and implementing the USAO’s Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project, one of five pilot projects sponsored and funded by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW).  Mr. Adams’ responsibilities as Tribal SAUSA included investigating and prosecuting crimes against Native American women and children.  He also trained tribal prosecutors and tribal, local, state and federal officers in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable crime of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking offense against Native American women and children is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.

“This award is a fitting recognition of David Adams’ extraordinary contributions to tribal communities and Native American women in New Mexico,” said U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez.  “Domestic violence and sexual assault are human rights issues, and the violence perpetuated against Native American women is epidemic.  It is the right of every Native American woman to be free of fear, to be free of violence, and to be free of ever having to be a victim.  OVW’s Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project enabled the USAO prioritize the prosecution of violent offenses against Native American women.  David embraced the Project and has become a major player in the Justice Department’s effort to bring justice to Native American women.”

Mr. Adams, a member of the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan, graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2007.  He was the chief prosecutor for the Pueblo of Laguna, N.M., from 2007 to 2012.  Mr. Adams became the USAO’s Tribal SAUSA in 2012 and served in that role until Oct. 2014, when he was sworn in as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  Mr. Adams is assigned to the USAO’s Indian Country Crime Section, where he continues to do the important work for which he was recognized today.

 EOUSA provides oversight, general executive assistance, and direction to the 94 United States Attorneys’ offices around the country. For more information on EOUSA and its mission, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao.