January
4, 2018
Longtime
federal agent to oversee investigations for
W.Va.
Dept. of Military Affairs and Public Safety
CHARLESTON,
W.Va. – A veteran U.S. Treasury Department investigator will now
apply his considerable expertise at the W.Va. Department of Military Affairs
and Public Safety, Secretary Jeff Sandy announced.
Jeffrey G. James has been named Director
of the Cabinet Department’s Corrections Investigations Division, effective
January 1. James succeeds William Marshall, who was the first to head that
consolidated office before Governor Jim Justice named him Director of the W.Va.
Division of Juvenile Services in October.
“I have known Mr. James since he was a Parkersburg Police
Officer. With his vast experience as a city policeman, firefighter, and
federal agent he will be a tremendous asset to the state of West Virginia
corrections,” Secretary Sandy said. “In addition, his experience working on
federal drug task forces and a healthcare fraud task force with the United
States Attorney’s office in Wheeling will allow us to use his skills for
collateral duties.”
James recently retired after a
quarter-century as a special agent with the Criminal Investigation Division at
Treasury. Investigative assignments both throughout the U.S. and
internationally earned him multiple commendations and awards. He was detailed
to the U.S. Department of Defense during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served in Iraq
and Qatar. He served a second deployment in Iraq while assigned to the U.S.
Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probe into the United Nation’s
failed Oil-for-Food Program.
James was also a Treasury representative on
a U.S. Department of Justice Joint Terrorism Task Force and DOJ task forces
targeting healthcare fraud and crimes against the elderly. He has taken part in
dignitary protection details of U.S. presidents, presidential candidates, and
foreign heads of state. James traces his law enforcement career back to his
college years: he served as a campus police officer in Nelsonville, Ohio while
attending school there.
“I am humbled by the trust Governor
Justice and Secretary Sandy have put in me,” James said. “I consider it a
privilege to serve the citizens of West Virginia. I trust that my years of
experience as a uniform police officer in Parkersburg and as a federal agent
will help me to lead this agency in fulfilling its mission. I join a great team
of investigators who, on a daily basis, strive to make the correctional
facilities safe and operating within guidelines.”
The Corrections Investigations Division
focuses on West Virginia’s prisons, jails and juvenile facilities, which all
operate under DMAPS. James will oversee investigations into the use of force –
he was a use-of-force instructor for over 18 years during his federal career –
as well as contraband smuggling, misconduct and other topics. The unified
investigations office is part of the ongoing consolidation of the state’s
correctional functions that Secretary Sandy launched when Gov. Jim Justice took
office in January.
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