2 Southern District of Ohio attorneys recognized at national Director’s Awards for their contributions to justice

COLUMBUS, Ohio - United States Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II announced today two Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) Director's Award recipients from the Southern District of Ohio.

Lifetime Exceptional Service Award - Kevin W. Kelley

"Mr. Kelley has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for more than three decades, establishing a reputation as an innovative and effective trial attorney and mentor, who prosecuted landmark cases that were among the most impactful in the history of the Southern District of Ohio," said U.S. Attorney Gerace. "Kevin has served as a shining example for a generation of AUSAs in the district and beyond. Kevin's dedication to the mission of the Department of Justice is worthy of this recognition for his lifetime of exceptional service."

Mr. Kelley began working at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Columbus in 1994. Many of his notable prosecutions involve worst of the worst violent offenders. For example:

United States v. Thomas Henderson involved a career criminal who killed those whom he felt betrayed him. After spending 14 years in federal prison for an armed bank robbery he committed in 1981, Henderson sought revenge on those who cooperated with the government. Henderson killed two witnesses. Working with the FBI, Mr. Kelley secured an indictment against Henderson for murdering the two. This was one of the few capital cases ever pursued in the Southern District of Ohio. The case went to trial in 2007, and Henderson was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.

United States v. Robert Ledbetter, et al. involved a racketeering enterprise known as the Short North Posse (SNP), a violent criminal organization that terrorized central Ohio. For years, SNP members engaged in murder, robbery, extortion, drug trafficking, witness intimidation and firearms offenses. The investigation led to the largest federal murder indictment in Ohio's history. In total, 20 defendants were charged with 40 felony counts, including substantive murder charges for 13 homicides. In 2016, the case proceeded to trial against five members of the SNP. After a 10-week trial, during which the government called 115 witnesses and introduced hundreds of exhibits, the jury found the defendants guilty on all counts. Each was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In United States v. Dominique Bryant, et al., Mr. Kelley prosecuted 19 members and associates of the Trevit and Atcheson Crips for offenses including murder in aid of racketeering and drug trafficking.

Additionally, Mr. Kelley pioneered the District's violent crime working groups, which have become a model of cooperation and coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement.

Excellence as a Criminal Assistant United States Attorney - Emily Czerniejewski

"Ms. Czerniejewski is being recognized for her Excellence as a Criminal Assistant United States Attorney for her steadfast commitment to protecting the most vulnerable in society," said U.S. Attorney Gerace. "Emily has prosecuted and convicted some of the worst offenders in the district, obtaining sentences of 60 years, 50 years, 35 years, and 25 years, against individual defendants for their horrific sexual exploitation of minors. Her diligence and dedication to this challenging work has led the Southern District of Ohio's Project Safe Childhood program to new heights. It is truly a challenge to capture all the meaningful cases Emily prosecuted in the recent past."

Ms. Czerniejewski was co-counsel in the U.S. v. Cordell Washington et al trial involving David Price. Price, who not only sold lethal drugs on the streets of this district but also tormented the victims being sex-trafficked - by locking them in dog cages and putting drugs on fishing line just out of their reach, locking them in a room and forcing them to have sex with him for hours on end, and beating them regularly - was convicted of a myriad of drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and firearms offenses. Price was sentenced to life in prison.

Some of her other recent Project Safe Childhood cases include:

• U.S. v. Anthony Sims, a convicted sex offender who raped a 12-year-old girl dozens of times and coerced a 13-year-old girl to have sex with men for money at various hotels. As trial approached, Sims pled guilty to production of child pornography and to sex trafficking of a minor. He was sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment.
• U.S. v. Dennis Stopar, a convicted rapist who sexually exploited at least nine minor victims and created hundreds of images and videos of the abuse, was sentenced to 60 years of imprisonment.
• U.S. v. Arturo Navarrete-Juarez, who was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment for raping a little girl and creating child pornography of the criminal acts.
• U.S. v. Christian Toms, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually exploiting an 11-year-old non-verbal boy with autism.

Ms. Czerniejewski is also a champion of the relatively new Take It Down Act, which was signed into law in May 2025, and which makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish real or computer-generated explicit images of a person without their consent. She obtained the first conviction in the country under the Take It Down Act.

"Kevin and Emily exemplify the type of outstanding career public servants that work for the Southern District of Ohio every day," added U.S. Attorney Gerace. "I could not be prouder of their dedicated service to our community and am honored to take part in their much-deserved recognition today."

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