Announcements, information & updates from
the Attorney General Alliance Members and Associates
August 25, 2023
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Please save the date, and reach out to Alejandra Stephens for registration information at astephens@agalliance.org. |
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Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor announced his office filed a lawsuit against an individual (and six companies owned by that individual) alleging "that they engaged in widespread fraud in the ATM industry." |
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Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced the "Department of Justice has secured 10 new felony convictions - including multiple murder and gun charges - in its long-running case against members of the violent Wilmington-area gang NorthPak." |
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South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced "an agreement has been reached with State Senator Jessica Castleberry to pay back more than $499,000 in COVID funds which she received for her preschool daycare centers in Rapid City." |
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Hawai’i Attorney General Anne Lopez announced “she will be engaging a third-party private organization with experience in emergency management and processes to assess the performance of State and County agencies in preparing and responding to the Maui wildfires.” |
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Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced a “collaboration with Pennsylvania State Police that resulted in arrests of scammers in two separate plots to defraud and steal from older Pennsylvanians.” |
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New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced “new resources to combat elder abuse and financial exploitation in New Hampshire. The Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Unit will add three new positions: an additional prosecutor, a sworn law enforcement investigator, and an investigative paralegal.” |
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced “several new steps his office is taking in its renewed focus on medical-billing practices in Minnesota, which is a longstanding concern of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.” |
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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced that “she has reached a settlement agreement with Tobacco Manufacturers that will result in the State of Iowa receiving extra payments of more than $171 million over the next six years.” |
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Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey announced that a court granted his request for a permanent injunction against an individual under the Maine Civil Rights Act. |
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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced the release of the 2022 Annual Report for the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Forensic Sciences (DFS) crime laboratories.
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The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, along with the Division of Highway Traffic Safety (HTS), announced “the launch of enhanced enforcement efforts to combat impaired driving in New Jersey. Grant funding from HTS will be used to mobilize law enforcement agencies throughout the state to conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints and take alcohol and drug impaired drivers off our roadways.” |
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District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced that a construction company operating in the District of Columbia “will pay over $600,000 in restitution to harmed workers and penalties to the District as part of a wage theft settlement with the Office.” |
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New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that “a settlement has been reached with the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to resolve the outstanding appeal related to the closure of the San Juan Generating Station.” |
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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced “three additional defendants have been charged and arraigned in connection to the multi-million-dollar interstate food stamp fraud investigation conducted by her Organized Retail Crime (ORC) Unit operating with Michigan State Police and the Attorney General’s ‘FORCE’ Team.” |
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Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes announced the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force “charged 19 individuals with child exploitation-related crimes after a four-day undercover operation throughout Utah. Operation Digital Siege occurred between August 16 and August 19, 2023, after weeks of preparation and cooperation from law enforcement agencies in Northern and Southern Utah.” |
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Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced the final sentencing in a large Furnas County human trafficking case. |
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OPIOIDS AND ILLICIT DRUGS |
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North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced “the scheduled signing of a Memordum of Understanding (MOU) with the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). This partnership will provide operational support in the identification, targeting, disruption, and dismantling of Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) affecting Tribal Nations.” |
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta “announced the felony arrests of two suspected narcotic traffickers and the seizure of various illicit drugs including fentanyl, as well as illegal handguns, and large amounts of cash in Placer County.” |
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Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced that “anti-drug task forces in Montana have already seized more fentanyl in the first half of the year than they did in 2022, which blasted previous records. He also marked Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day with a warning to Montanans about the dangers of the illicit drug.” |
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Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced that “a Pawtucket man has been charged in Providence County Superior Court with possessing 20 ghost guns and drug trafficking offenses following an investigation by the Rhode Island State Police (RISP) into drug trafficking in the greater Providence area.“ |
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As part of National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody warned Floridians about fentanyl and other illicit drug use. |
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Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC) “approved $2.5 million in new funding for local governments to fight the state’s opioid crisis. The COAC made the announcement at their annual statewide conference, a gathering of regional law enforcement, public health, and local government leaders, happening this week in Montrose.” |
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Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen asked a federal judge to keep Montana’s law banning a social media platform in the state in effect while the case proceeds in federal court. |
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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares “led a bipartisan coalition of the attorneys general of 40 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands urging the Supreme Court to protect veterans' rights by ruling in favor of James Rudisill in Rudisill v. McDonough.”
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Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and New York Attorney General Letitia James of New York co-led a coalition of 13 attorneys general in comments regarding the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s proposed Gas Pipeline Leak Detection and Repair Rules. |
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY |
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Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb, and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell co-led a coalition of 15 attorneys general in making comments regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules for “advanced recycling” facilities and the “proposed Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) for producing 18 substances used to make transportation fuels and refinery feedstocks – raw material for processing or manufacturing another product – from plastic waste.” |
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New York Attorney General Letitia James led a 10-state coalition in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Texas v. EPA.
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District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led a coalition of 25 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding United States v. Rahimi.
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Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin co-led a coalition of 18 state attorneys general to file an amicus brief in Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, Inc. v. Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led an 18-state comment letter to the US Department of the Interior and the US Department of Commerce regarding proposed rules related to the Endangered Species Act |
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell co-led a 15-state comment letter to the US Department of the Interior and the US Department of Commerce regarding proposed rules related to the Endangered Species Act. |
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Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced Joshua Shasserre will serve as the Office’s new Deputy Attorney General for Public Affairs, and Suzanne Geist will serve as Chief Advisor to the Attorney General. |
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Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced Mary Freeley will “lead the office’s Elder Justice Unit, a new unit established under AG Campbell. The Unit will convene existing resources to protect and promote the safety and well-being of elders through enforcement actions, legislative advocacy, and community engagement and education.” |
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that he has named Dana Mitchell as Deputy Attorney General in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. |
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If you are interested in other Attorney General Alliance and Conference of Western Attorneys General newsletters, follow the link below to sign up! |
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Attorney General Alliance
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