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2012 SESSION


HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 74
Commending Ken Sorenson.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 10, 2012

 

WHEREAS, Ken Sorenson, a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, was awarded the 2011 J. Michael Bradford Award from the National Association of Former United States Attorneys; and

WHEREAS, a skilled and experienced prosecutor, Ken Sorenson served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia before moving to Hawaii and assuming the same position; and

WHEREAS, while in Hawaii, Ken Sorenson has also served as senior litigation counsel, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Chief, and lead attorney for all national security litigation; and

WHEREAS, Ken Sorenson has built an impressive resume of successful prosecutions in large and complex cases, including the murder of a United States Park Ranger, sophisticated drug trafficking cases, and intricate white collar crime; and

WHEREAS, Ken Sorenson displayed outstanding leadership, resourcefulness, and strategic planning and masterful courtroom skills in the successful prosecution of Noshir Gowadia in United States v. Gowadia, one of the nation’s largest and most critical espionage cases in the past 20 years; and

WHEREAS, Ken Sorenson worked with a multitude of federal agencies and their employees over the years to discuss strategies and worked through the minefield of protecting, through adroit litigation skills, hundreds of classified facts, many at the TOP SECRET/Special Access Program level, involving our nation’s most sensitive military stealth technologies; and

WHEREAS, Ken Sorenson persevered in obtaining banking records from Switzerland and Liechtenstein using Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties and Tax Treaty provisions, resulting in the obtaining of critical financial information; and

WHEREAS, Ken Sorenson presented the government’s case in a compelling fashion and expertly cross-examined defense witnesses, leading to the ultimate triumph of American justice when Noshir Gowadia was sentenced to 32 years in prison in 2011 for multiple espionage, arms export, and tax and money laundering violations; and

WHEREAS, a worthy recipient of the 2011 J. Michael Bradford Award, Ken Sorenson received the award at the National Association of Former United States Attorneys annual conference in New Mexico; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Ken Sorenson hereby be commended on his selection by the National Association of Former United States Attorneys as the 2011 J. Michael Bradford Award recipient; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Ken Sorenson as an expression of the House of Delegates’ congratulations and respect for his outstanding work and commitment to justice.