Administrative Team Receives National Award from Department of Justice Leadership

PROVIDENCE – On May 3, 2023, at a Washington, D.C. ceremony attended by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha, and other senior Department of Justice leadership, seven members of the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s Office Administrative Division were honored with a Director’s Award for their exceptional service to this Office and the United States.

“I am intensely proud of the quality and impact of the work that this Office does on behalf of the people of Rhode Island, and the nation, every day,” said U.S. Attorney Cunha.  “But while much of our legal work receives public attention, many of the dedicated public servants in this Office, without whom our mission would be impossible, often do not.  I am delighted to see our exceptional administrative team receive this well-deserved honor from the Department, and honored to serve alongside these dedicated professionals.” 

Presented annually, the Director’s Awards recognize excellence throughout the U.S. Attorney community, honoring exceptional contributions to the Department’s mission by Assistant United States Attorneys in criminal and civil cases, appellate work, litigation in Indian Country, and other programmatic areas, across the 94 federal Districts that comprise the United States.  Two Administrative teams were also recognized, one of them from the District of Rhode Island, where Administrative Officer Lynn Danchuk, Executive Assistant Sheila Grant, Contracting Officer Ryan Crotty, Budget Officer Vincent Onorato, Paralegal Supervisor (Ret.) Sandra Mascola, and Litigation Technology Support Specialists Nicole Williams and Michael Ward were each honored with a Director’s Award.

The awards were presented by Monty Wilkinson, Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, in the two-story Great Hall of the Department of Justice, located in the Robert F. Kennedy Building that serves as the Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.