Colorado’s new U.S. attorney waited 18 months for his dream job while senators in Washington wrangled over confirmations and President Barack Obama’s first nominee dropped out.
“This is a job I value so much and wanted to do as a matter of public service for so long that having to wait a year or so was something I was willing to do,” said John Walsh, who was sworn in six weeks ago.
Walsh, formerly a private attorney at Hill & Robbins in Denver, let Sen. Mark Udall and then-Sen. Ken Salazar know he was interested in the post after Obama was elected and former Colorado U.S. Attorney Troy Eid left to return to private practice.
“I’ve always felt the role of the prosecutor is one of the highest public-service positions a lawyer can fill,” he said.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Walsh worked as a deputy chief federal prosecutor of white-collar crimes in Los Angeles, and he intends to make economic crimes, particularly mortgage fraud, a priority in his office.
“We will redouble our efforts in that direction because the public expects us to,” he said.
But his first consideration will be fighting terrorism, especially in light of the 2009 arrest of Najibullah Zazi, an Aurora shuttle driver who has pleaded guilty to plotting a terrorist attack.
“The Zazi case illustrated that there is no district that does not have potential for a terrorism case,” he said. “Our primary focus is making sure the American people are safe. We have to be vigilant every day.”
Walsh intends to continue Eid’s commitment to fighting crime in American Indian country where violence continues to flourish. He visited Colorado’s two reservations last week in Durango and saw the need firsthand.
“This country has a responsibility to the Native American people to maintain public safety on Indian reservations,” he said.
Immigration enforcement makes up 40 percent of the criminal docket in Denver’s federal court, and Walsh intends to continue prosecuting felons who illegally return to the U.S. after being deported to Mexico.
Walsh has asked for additional federal resources to fight drug and gun trafficking to and from Mexico, using funds set aside by Congress to beef up enforcement along the Southwest border.
As for medical-marijuana laws, Walsh says he will not focus on prosecuting individual users for simple possession.
“Colorado law is in a state of flux, but federal law has not changed,” he said. “Our efforts are focused on drug trafficking and that is not going to change.”
Medical-marijuana users and growers may come to federal attention if there are firearms involved, if they are involved in prior violent or drug-trafficking felonies and if their operations are close to schools, Walsh said.
He declined to comment on the case against Christopher Bartkowicz — a medical-marijuana grower charged with federal drug crimes and facing life in prison — because it is pending before the court.
Walsh, a 1979 Cherry Creek High School alumnus and 1986 Stanford Law School graduate, made personal sacrifices along the way to his current job and continues to try to balance a work and family life.
His wife, Lisa Christian, former chief of the U.S. attorney’s civil division, now works as a government attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Denver.
The couple have three children, ages 14, 12 and 10.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
