PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Law Enforcement Agency Directors (LEAD) of Western Pennsylvania recognized law enforcement officers and prosecutors from across nearly a dozen agencies during the 28th Annual LEAD Awards ceremony, announced United States Attorney Troy Rivetti. Comprising the Western Pennsylvania heads of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, LEAD bestows awards annually as a way of recognizing outstanding performance from law enforcement agents and officers, as well as prosecutors.This year’s awards included:The Lifetime Service Award was presented to Michael C. Warfield (retired) for his outstanding service to law enforcement across three decades, including 25 years as a Trooper with the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) and several years as the Law Enforcement Coordinator with the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Western District of Pennsylvania. For 18 of his years with the PSP, Warfield served as a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) federally deputized Task Force Officer, in which role he led numerous successful wiretap investigations of large-scale drug traffickers, including overseeing the district’s first roving wiretap investigation (allowing agents to immediately intercept a target’s next phone upon the target’s discarding of his previous one). In 2019, the USAO hired Warfield as the office’s Law Enforcement Coordinator, where he advised office leadership on law enforcement issues throughout the district’s 25 counties and facilitated improved working relationships, crime prevention efforts, and trainings among federal, state and local law enforcement until his 2022 retirement and move to the private sector.The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Greater Pittsburgh Safe Streets Task Force, DEA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Marshals Service, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Allegheny County Police Department (ACPD), and USAO received a team award for their investigation and prosecution of an individual who attempted to murder a DEA Special Agent. The evidence revealed that the defendant fired 18 rounds from a semiautomatic firearm at the DEA Special Agent while the agent was conducting surveillance in a drug trafficking investigation. While many of those shots struck the DEA Special Agent’s vehicle, the agent himself fortunately was not injured. The multi-agency response, and FBI investigation that followed, brought about the prompt identification, arrest, and federal indictment of the individual for the attempted murder of the DEA Special Agent, along with federal narcotics and firearms offenses. A federal search warrant for the actor’s residence and the vehicle used in the shooting resulted in the seizure of more than 100 bricks of fentanyl, a 9mm Glock pistol equipped with a 50 round drum magazine, and other evidence. The defendant has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later this year.Special Agent John Orlando, Task Force Officer Scott Patterson, and Operational Support Technician Rochelle Nestel from the FBI, Task Force Officers Thomas Costa and Jeffrey Morrell from the DEA, Inspector Jason Parillo of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Craig Haller of the USAO received a team award for outstanding performance for their investigation and prosecution of a large-scale drug trafficking organization following a series of overdoses, including one fatal overdose, in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. The investigation resulted in eight federal indictments and arrests, the seizure of more than three kilograms of cocaine/crack cocaine, over 500 grams of heroin/fentanyl, approximately $180,000 in forfeitures, and 19 firearms…
Source: U.S. Department of Justice