Criminal Division

The Criminal Division is the largest division in the office. Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) in the Criminal Division prosecute cases arising from a wide array of criminal activity. The Criminal Division is divided into two units, the Economic, Cyber, and Health Care Fraud Unit and the Violent Crime and Narcotics Unit. The organization of the Criminal Division reflects the prosecution priorities of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney. Criminal AUSAs work of out the Louisville main office and the staffed branch offices in Paducah and Bowling Green.

Criminal Division Specialized Initiatives

The Criminal Division supports several specialized initiatives including:

• Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and community-based leaders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. 
• Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative that utilizes a network of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials and community advocacy organizations to help protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation.
• Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), whose mission is to combat transnational organized crime and to reduce the availability of illicit narcotics by using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach to enforcement. OCDETF leverages the resources and expertise of its partners in concentrated, coordinated, long-term enterprise investigations of transnational organized crime, money laundering, and major drug trafficking networks. 
• Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (AHIDTA), which provides resources to state and local law enforcement agencies who partner with federal authorities in multi-jurisdictional tasks forces dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking organizations. Eleven counties within the district are designated AHIDTA counties.

Economic, Cyber, and Health Care Fraud Unit
 

The Economic, Cyber, and Health Care Fraud Unit handles cases involving wire and bank fraud, investment fraud, tax fraud, identity theft, and fraud committed by corporate and individual defendants against Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance providers. The unit also handles cases involving complex computer crimes, including hacking or intrusions, and other internet-related crimes. 

AUSAs in this unit also have responsibility for the PSC initiative which protects children through the investigation and prosecution of offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. In addition, crimes involving human trafficking, civil rights, public corruption, and environmental matters also fall within the purview of this unit.

Violent Crime and Narcotics Unit

The Violent Crime and Narcotics Unit is responsible for prosecuting a variety of federal criminal offenses that affect the safety and well-being of citizens throughout the district.  AUSAs working in this unit partner with Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to maximize resources and make our communities safer.

The unit handles cases involving drug crimes including the unlawful importation, possession, distribution, and manufacture of controlled substances. The unit also handles cases involving federal gun law violations associated with drug trafficking. AUSAs in this unit work with the OCDETF and AHIDTA programs to combat the most serious drug-trafficking organizations with the district. 

The unit also prosecutes federal violent crimes including, robbery, carjacking, arson, gang activity, firearms violations, kidnapping and murder. AUSAs work closely with state and federal law enforcement agencies and state prosecutors’ offices to collaboratively prosecute violent offenders. Many of these offenses are prosecuted as part of the Department’s PSN initiative. 

Other Criminal Division Functions
 

The priority of the Department of Justice is to prevent terrorism and promote national security. Specially trained AUSAs in the Louisville main office and the staffed branch offices in Paducah and Bowling Green are responsible for prosecuting violations of federal international and domestic terrorism laws occurring in the district.   

Since two major military installations – Fort Knox and Fort Campbell – are located within the district, military lawyers from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps are assigned as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys (SAUSAs). The SAUSAs prosecute felony and misdemeanor offenses arising on the military installations.