Top federal officer looks back on his Ohio career
Fight against drugs, crime shows success, US attorney asserts
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As United States attorney for the Northern Ohio District, Justin Herdman said his chief priority was to focus on saving lives.
Herdman took some time last week to look back on his four years as the top federal cop in northern Ohio, at what he did right and what he could have improved upon.
"What we did best in this office was to put deserving people in jail and take their money," Herdman said. "That was our core competency being in the law enforcement business."
Friday was the Ohio native's last day on the job. He handed the office reins over to his first assistant, U.S. Attorney Bridget Brennan.
For the next few months, Herdman said he is going to relax and enjoy the time off with his family. Then he said he will consider the offers made to him to work in the legal field in the public sector.
"I got myself a dog," Herdman said, "but right now I really do not know what the future holds for me."
DRUG WAR
Herdman was proud to point out his efforts to combat the fentanyl and opioid-related deaths that skyrocketed shortly after he took office.
"The was something that was going to be a real challenge for the Mahoning Valley," he said, noting the highest overdose deaths rates were in Trumbull and Marion counties. "We made several trips to map out strategy with police chief, TAG (the Trumbull sheriff's drug task force) and the prosecutor."
"You can't show up and throw your weight around with county prosecutors. You have to remember these people are directly held to accountable by the voters and I am not," Herdman said.
Herdman had glowing praise for his relationship with Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins and his staff.
"I've really grown to appreciate the longest-serving prosecutor," Herdman said about Watkins. "He has been a great partner to us. He is very serious and has a great sense for details.''
Herdman said he values the contributions and input from local law enforcement.
"You can't go in there acting like the boss," Herdman said. "These law enforcement professionals are very competent and added a lot to the fight. I was very very proud of the work done to combat the opioids in Trumbull County."
Herdman established a Diversion Working Group to pursue unlawfully diverted prescription painkillers across the supply chain. This resulted in the precedent-setting use of the federal Controlled Substances Act's civil provisions to enjoin healthcare professionals from illegal prescribing, Herdman said.
"The work of attorneys in this group undoubtedly saved a lot of lives," Herdman said.
The prosecutor said he often has to answer those critics about a heavy-handed approach to drug users and low-level drug dealers.
"I have to wholesale dismiss these criticisms," Herdman said. "When you're dealing a narcotic like fentanyl where a few grains can produce a fatal outcome, there is no such thing as a low-level drug dealer."
Most of the violent crime in the area, according to Herdman, has some link to the illegal selling of narcotics, and most of the time he sees marijuana as the drug of choice in these violent situations.
"We have seen lots of violence, firearms and money laundering from the dealing of illicit marijuana," he said.
Among his other accomplishments in the drug war, Herdman pointed to establishing a Dark Web Working Group, a multi-agency investigative team tasked with identifying online vendors of illicit narcotics, especially fentanyl and synthetic opioids, and holding them accountable.
Under Herdman's leadership, the office prosecuted more narcotics-related offenses in each year between 2018 and 2020 (393, 456, and 493 individual defendants, respectively) than ever before in the district. From 2018 to 2020, the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted more than double the number of narcotics defendants than in the years 2014 to 2016.
VIOLENT CRIME
Among the things Herdman isn't satisfied with upon leaving the job is the rising number of homicides.
"It's a number I track very closely. We had close to 200 in Cleveland. But you can diagnose the trend by looking at the medium-sized cities like Warren. We had almost 20 in 2020 there," Herdman said. "There's no question there is a trend toward violence… it is out of control but it's not only in my district but everywhere."
The only thing that explains this in violent crime is the COVID-19 pandemic, Herdman said. "People having nothing to do in their spare time. It's become an absolute tragedy to see people killing each other."
Herdman said the office will have to continue to focus on firearm prosecutions.
"We have to identify people (with guns) and if we find them, we will prosecute them federally," Herdman said pointing to recent cases involving a machine gun possessed by a Canfield Township man that led to the shooting of a 6-year-old boy.
The number of individuals prosecuted for illegal firearms possession offenses in 2020 represented a 162 percent increase - almost three times as many - from the number of similar offenses prosecuted in 2016.
In 2019 in Youngstown, the office supported Operation Steel Penguin and Operation Rookery, violent crime reduction efforts that included a data-driven enforcement effort. Under these initiatives, the ATF, along with officers from the Youngstown Police Department and Ohio's Adult Parole Authority, worked together to identify violent offenders and reoffenders. These operations led to 109 arrests, the seizure of 45 illegally possessed firearms and an overall reduction in violent crimes during the operational period by 30 percent and homicides by 90 percent (as to compared to the preceding year).
"I am confident that the strategies and resources that we have put in place will witness improvement in our cities' violent crime rates in 2021 and well beyond," Herdman said.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Herdman thinks domestic violence wouldn't be as much a societal problem if firearms weren't involved.
In the two years since a 2018 Herdman initiative, the Northern Ohio District has seen a 300 percentincrease in the number of firearms-related cases brought against domestic violence offenders than in previous years.
"A gun in the hand of a domestic violence offender is far more likely to be used to kill the victim in that setting, and far more likely to be used against responding law enforcement," Herdman said noting these cases were never the focus of federal law enforcement. "(These cases) have saved the lives of domestic violence victims, innocent children, and police officers."
Herdman still is saddened by the 2017 death of Girard police officer Justin Leo
"You know, Leo and his partner were responding to domestic violence call," Herdman said "The person who did this should never have been possessing a firearm. I remember going to (Leo's) funeral and talking to his parents, telling them I was going to do something about this."
NATIONAL SECURITY
As an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Herdman talked about Justice's No. 1 priority - preventing terrorism and advancing national security.
Looking at his experience as a Manhattan prosecutor in 2001, Herdman remembers having a "front-row seat" to the ultimate terrorist attack on Sept. 11.
"Most of what we do in the area of national security, you'll never hear about, but there are constant plots underway to kill people via mass casualty attacks."
Recent security threats in Boardman and at the Jewish Community Center in Youngstown didn't necessarily lead to lot of jail time, Herdman said, but he said these prosecutions "sends a real message to the online communities of hate that we won't tolerate threats."
In 2021, Herdman said the office needs to worry "across the board" in the area of national security, including those internet-based threats or those "peaceful" political protests in the streets.
"In the summer of 2020, they showed up with Molotov cocktails in Cleveland," Herdman said. "They didn't care if they hurt people or property in the process."
Herdman predicts domestic threats will keep coming from the extreme left and right wings and "we have to be ready."
"Whereas our international terrorism response is the best in the world," Herdman said "I don't think we have begun to get our arms around the domestic threat for the indefinite future.
Herdman said the domestic protest in American streets are "metasticizing and taking new shapes."
FRAUD AND CORRUPTION
Throughout his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Herdman has delivered on rooting out self-dealing by public officials:
∫ The former Chief Operating Officer of a publicly-funded hospital, Ryan Sheridan of Columbiana County, along with four others, was convicted of a bribery and kickback scheme that involved thousands of dollars paid for patient referrals and the illegal use of hospital resources to support a side business.
∫ In a pending case, four sitting members of the Toledo City Council have been charged with bribery and extortion.
∫ A former Cuyahoga County land bank employee was charged with honest services fraud and bribery.
"Public officials seem to not get the message.. . (this office) won't tolerate bribes or trading cash or favors for votes," Herdman said. "We've used every tool to identify it and snuff it out, with the help of the FBI."
Herdman said his office is also investigating cases where businesses and individuals were taking advantage of the loans and grands made available because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There seemingly was the idea that there was enough to go around … the category of cases in fraud prosecution because of the Payroll Protection Act, we have had people showing up and sticking their hand out." he said. "As we look at these loans, we have growing concerns about the amount of fraud. There may be an enormous amount of cases forthcoming."
As he left office Friday, the prosecutor had some final words of encouragement for those fretting about the future.
"Take heart, Ohio. We may feel that the world is against us, but we've beat long odds before," Herdman said.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com