SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle gun crimes prosecutor has won an award from the Justice Department.
Andy Colasurdo was named outstanding local prosecutor Wednesday as part of the DOJ’s annual achievement awards for Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national effort to tackle gun violence and get armed felons off the streets.
Colasurdo is a special assistant U.S. attorney in Seattle as well as an assistant King County prosecutor. He reviews every King County gun case for possible federal prosecution, and has federally prosecuted 172 gun cases in the past six years.
The U.S. attorney’s office says that in almost 800 other cases, the threat of federal prosecution helped persuade King County defendants to plead guilty to state crimes.
Seattle U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan says Colasurdo has built a model program for local and federal coordination in prosecuting gun crime.
