Stephan E. Oestreicher Jr. was honored with the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, the second highest award for employee performance bestowed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Oestreicher was honored along with other members of the team that investigated and ultimately prosecuted former Louisiana congressman William J. Jefferson for corruption-related offenses.
When the investigation began in March 2005, Jefferson was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. As a result of the investigation, he was convicted in 2009 of bribery, honest services fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) violations. His sentence of 13 years was the longest term ever imposed on a current or former congressman. Jefferson lost an appeal to overturn his 2009 conviction in March 2012. He began serving his sentence in the federal prison in Beaumont, Texas, in May 2012. He has appealed his corruption conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Oestreicher has worked as an attorney in the Appellate Section of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, based in Washington, D.C., since 2003. “Stephan played a leadership role in the appellate issues in the case,” said Charles Duross, deputy chief of the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division. “It went to the Supreme Court twice before trial and is still on appeal post-verdict.”
Oestreicher joined the Department of Justice after clerking for Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The 2012 award marks the second time Oestreicher has been honored with the Distinguished Service award. He was also honored in 2005 for his role in advocating the government’s position concerning the federal sentencing guidelines in the wake of United States v. Booker.