Spark It Up!!!: John Brownlee to Receive Award

From The Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Brownlee to receive Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement Award

August 13, 2008 | VACP

Virginia's police chiefs will present The Honorable John L. Brownlee with the 2008 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement With Distinction on August 19, 2008 at the Annual Conference in Hot Springs.

The Honorable John L. Brownlee, former United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, will be honored on August 19, 2008, with the VACP/VPCF Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement Award. The award will be presented during the Valor Awards Banquet at the VACP Annual Conference. The Outstanding Contribution to Law Enforcement Award recognizes one person’s conspicuous act or achievement in the performance of a duty that results in an exceptional and responsible contribution to law enforcement. Mr. Brownlee was nominated for the award by the Blue Ridge Association of Chiefs of Police.

“Virginia’s law enforcement community has no better friend than John Brownlee,” said VACP President Chief Ray Lavinder. “John has been a true leader for law enforcement in Virginia for many years, and we are honored to present this prestigious award to him. Virginians are safer today because of John Brownlee’s outstanding work.”

During Mr. Brownlee’s nearly seven years as United States Attorney, he worked closely with law enforcement agencies in the Western District and across Virginia to address violent crime and drug trafficking problems. Since 2004, Brownlee awarded more than $1.2 million in Project Safe Neighborhoods and Anti-Gang grant funds to police departments, sheriff’s offices, Commonwealth’s Attorneys, faith based organizations, and youth risk prevention programs to address gang and illegal drug related crimes in numerous communities throughout Virginia.

For more than 20 years, John Brownlee has served America and Virginia as a soldier, local prosecutor, and as the United States Attorney. He has earned a reputation as a tough and dedicated crime fighter who has vigorously fought for justice. In May 2007, Brownlee and Attorney General Bob McDonnell convicted The Purdue Frederick Company and its top executives of illegally misbranding their pain medicine OxyContin. The company and its executives paid over $634 million in fines, and the executives were placed on 3 years probation and ordered to perform 400 hours of community service. The settlement was one of the largest financial penalties ever imposed on a drug company.

In January 2005, Brownlee convicted Brent Simmons, who had murdered two James Madison University students in 1995. Brownlee developed a novel legal theory by using the Violence Against Women’s Act, which had been enacted only 13 days prior to the murders, and federal firearms charges to convict Simmons and bring justice to the victim’s families. Simmons was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of release.