Jan 06, 2010 -

Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Lulejian ’90 has received the Justice Department's second highest award for employee performance, the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service.

Attorney General Eric Holder recognized 247 department employees for their distinguished public service at the 57th Annual Attorney General Awards Ceremony in October 2009. The annual ceremony recognized both department employees and others for their dedication to carrying out the Department of Justice’s mission.

“It is my privilege to honor these recipients for their outstanding service and commitment to our country,” Attorney General Holder said in a Justice Department news release. “Each of these dedicated servants has carried out the important mission of the Department of Justice and has done so with excellence and distinction. Their varied accomplishments have advanced the interests of justice on behalf of the American people, and I’m proud to call them my colleagues.”

Lulejian was on the seven-member team that was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for their work in the prosecution of Michael Joseph Pepe, a U.S. citizen who traveled to Cambodia to purchase young girls from their parents. As a result of the prosecution team's commitment, dedication and exemplary efforts, a Los Angeles jury convicted Mr. Pepe of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. Award recipients included, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lulejian, Patricia A. Donahue and Elizabeth R. Yang; from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE, Special Agents Gary J. Phillips, Eddy Wang and Paul Carbone; and Foreign Service National Vansak Sous.

For more about Lulejian, a member of the Harvey Mudd College Alumni Association Board of Governors, see the winter 2007 HMC Magazine feature.