OEE Special Agents Recognized by U.S. Attorney General

Attorney General Eric H. Holder recently honored three special agents from the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Export Enforcement for their historic achievements in a series of counter-proliferation cases. Assistant Special-Agent-in-Charge Jonathan Carson, Special Agent James Fuller, and Special Agent Donald Pearce each received the Executive Office of the U.S. Attorney Director's Award for "Superior Performance by a Litigative Team."

"Your work embodies our ongoing commitment, not merely to win cases, but to do justice," Attorney General Holder said. "We affirm that all of the contributions made by our awardees over the past year have been vitally important to the Department, to our nation, and to me."

"The honors accorded to Special Agent-in-Charge Carson and Special Agents Fuller and Pearce demonstrate how the Office of Export Enforcement employs its unique authorities in cooperation with our law enforcement partners to pursue those who violate our export control laws," said Under Secretary for Industry and Security Eric L. Hirschhorn. "The Office of Export Enforcement plays a vital role in advancing U.S. national security, foreign policy, and economic objectives, and our enforcement team will continue to pursue violators tirelessly anywhere in the world."\

"The Office of Export Enforcement is proud to congratulate Special Agents Carson, Fuller, and Pearce for their prestigious awards," said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement David W. Mills. "Their tireless efforts and dogged determination are a credit to them and to all of their colleagues who are proud to carry the badge of the Office of Export Enforcement."

Special Agent in Charge Carson and Special Agents Fuller and Pearce led an investigation involving illegal exports of high-performance coatings used to coat the walls of nuclear reactors . The team obtained guilty pleas from a Chinese subsidiary of PPG Industries, Inc. (a Fortune 500 Corporation), the highest-ranking executive of that subsidiary, and the Chinese construction company Huaxing. This was the first guilty plea in a United States export enforcement case by a company owned and operated by the People's Republic of China, and the defendants were assessed $6.75 million in penalties.

The Bureau of Industry and Security controls exports and reexports of commodities, technology, and software to support national security and foreign policy, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and missile non-proliferation, human rights, regional stability, and curbing terrorism. Criminal penalties and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of the Export Administration Regulations.