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Report: Gov. Justice appoints Mark Sorsaia as Secretary of Dept. of Homeland Security

Longtime federal agent to oversee investigations for WV DMAPS

1/4/2018

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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LAWRENCE MESSINA (304) 558-2930 Lawrence.C.Messina@wv.gov