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Longtime prosecutor honored

Murphy served Northern District of Iowa for 35-plus years

A longtime prosecutor whose resume includes transforming the war on drugs in the Northern District of Iowa and serving as lead prosecutor in the prosecution and conviction of 11 members of the Sons of Silence Outlaw Motorcycle Club, has been honored by the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

Senior Litigation Counsel Richard L. Murphy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Iowa, was given the Lifetime of Exceptional Service Director’s Award. The jurisdiction of the Northern District of Iowa includes Webster County.

U.S. Attorney Peter E. Deegan Jr. presented Murphy with the award on Dec. 2, 2020.

“The impact Mr. Murphy has had on the United States Attorney’s Office and the federal court system in the Northern District of Iowa cannot be overstated,” said Deegan. “For more than 35 years, he has served with an unyielding commitment to justice and the rule of law. By consistently providing the public with the very highest quality legal representation, Mr. Murphy has served as an outstanding example for generations of government attorneys. He is truly irreplaceable and we will miss him terribly, but we all wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement.”

Murphy was recognized for his more than 35 years of service to the Northern District of Iowa and the Department of Justice. He first worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office as an intern in 1981. After clerking for a federal judge, Murphy joined the office full-time.

According to Deegan, Murphy prosecuted many of the most important and difficult cases in the district.

Deegan said Murphy launched an initiative that transformed the “war on drugs” in the district into an aggressive and successful offensive.

In the fall of 1988, a two-year investigation led by Murphy resulted in 65 arrests, the seizure of cocaine valued at $1.5 million, marijuana valued at $800,000, and over $300,000 in cash and other assets. For his efforts Murphy was awarded the Director’s Award for his outstanding contributions to narcotics enforcement in 1990.

In 1996, Mr. Murphy was awarded the Director’s Award for his outstanding accomplishments as lead prosecutor in the prosecution and conviction of 11 members of the Sons of Silence Outlaw Motorcycle Club. The prosecution incapacitated both SOS chapters in Iowa and seriously disrupted racketeering activities of the club nationwide.

The national vice-president and three SOS chapter presidents were convicted as part of the case. During the investigation, seven current or former SOS members broke the “code of silence” and agreed to cooperate fully.

In 2014, Murphy received the Director’s Award for supervising what was then largest criminal worksite enforcement operation in U.S. history. The investigation resulted in the conviction of more than 300 illegal workers, several company officials, and a conviction by jury of a corporate CEO for an array of financial crimes, including a $26 million bank fraud as well as significant immigration related fraud.

In 2016, Mr. Murphy was honored with the Anti-Defamation League’s Shield Award for his work as lead prosecutor of Gervais Ngombwa. Ngombwa was convicted by a jury of naturalization fraud as a result of having lied to gain entry to the United States as a refugee following the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Evidence presented in court showed Ngombwa had actively participated in the genocide. Ngombwa was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and will be removed to Rwanda after the completion of his prison term.

In addition to his decades prosecuting crimes, Murphy has served in virtually every leadership position in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including first assistant U.S. Attorney and counsel to the U.S. Attorney.

According to Deegan, Murphy’s leadership was instrumental in responding effectively to the massive flood in Cedar Rapids in June 2008 that displaced the main office for five months.

Murphy’s work during that time period was recognized with a 2009 Director’s Award for Superior Performance in a Managerial Role.

Following the flood, Murphy spent hundreds of hours serving as the office’s lead representative as a new federal courthouse was designed, constructed, and occupied by the office.

Murphy served as Special DOJ Counsel to the United States Sentencing Commission from September 1990 through April 1991.

Murphy served as a member and Chair of the DOJ’s Criminal Chiefs Working Group. With other committee members, Mr. Murphy assisted in formulating recommendations to the Attorney General concerning a wide variety of issues affecting criminal prosecutors.

In 2018, as the office’s Antiterrorism Coordinator and National Security prosecutor, Mr. Murphy collaborated with state, federal, and local law enforcement; mental health providers, prosecutors, school administrators and resource officers, and juvenile court services to develop a School Threats Prevention Resource Guide.

The guide was widely distributed to those same stakeholders across the district and elsewhere.

Murphy is officially retired today.

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