Memphis, TN – D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, has announced his resignation, effective February 28, 2021. U.S. Attorney Dunavant has served in office since September, 2017.
U.S. Attorney Dunavant was appointed by President Donald J. Trump as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. Dunavant was sworn in as the 50th person to serve as the United States Attorney on September 21, 2017. In that capacity, Dunavant supervised a total office staff of 85 federal employees, including 45 Assistant U.S. Attorneys; managed, oversaw, and implemented a total annual operating office budget of over $10 million; and oversaw the investigation, prosecution, and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought on behalf of the United States in West Tennessee.
“Nearly three and a half years ago I was provided the professional honor of a lifetime,” U.S. Attorney Dunavant said. “To be able to serve the district where I was born, raised and educated, and for which I have tremendous love and respect, was a remarkable experience. I am tremendously grateful to President Trump, Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, and Congressman David Kustoff for placing their trust in me. I am confident that the extraordinary professionals of the U.S. Attorney’s Office will remain tirelessly devoted to the unwavering cause of justice on behalf of the citizens of West Tennessee and our great nation. I am proud of the consequential work we have accomplished in the Trump administration, including achieving justice for victims, consequences for criminals, support for law enforcement, resources for communities, protection of the U.S. Treasury, better public safety results for citizens, and respect for the rule of law. I am also exceedingly proud to have worked alongside the brave and dedicated men and women of law enforcement as they have selflessly served and sacrificed to make our communities safer. As I step away from this esteemed post, I remain committed to being actively engaged in serving our state and nation in the future.”
When he assumed the role as U.S. Attorney in 2017, Mr. Dunavant committed himself to protecting the nearly 1.6 million citizens that comprise West Tennessee through the vigorous enforcement of federal laws and prosecution of high-impact cases in all 22 counties of the district. Mr. Dunavant operated a full service U.S. Attorney’s Office which faithfully executed all applicable laws of Congress, including the Armed Career Criminal Act, the Controlled Substances Act, the False Claims Act, the First Step Act, and the Migratory Bird Act.
Some of Mr. Dunavant’s many highlights during his tenure as U.S. Attorney include the following initiatives, priorities, and programs:
• He reinvigorated the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Task Force in Memphis, recruiting the addition of new agents and resources from partner law enforcement agencies. In the first year in office, he dramatically increased the number of federal firearms cases filed by over 58%, and the number of defendants charged with firearms offenses by over 68%, leading to a two-year total decrease of 13.1% in overall violent crime and reported gun crime rates from 2017-2019.
• He led the DOJ Public Safety Partnership (PSP) Initiative with local team stakeholders in West Tennessee to receive federal resources for law enforcement training and technical assistance in an innovative framework to enhance data-driven, evidence-based local strategies for violence reduction; and led and hosted the National PSP Symposium on Violent Crime in Memphis in September 2019.
• He served on the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Executive Board, which continued funding to implement and sustain the Heroin Initiative, a joint coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, DEA, and the MPD Organized Crime Unit that exclusively targets crimes and overdoses involving the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioids. Also while serving on the HIDTA Executive Board, Dunavant coordinated and supported a successful proposal to add and designate Madison County, Tennessee as a new county in the Gulf Coast HIDTA Region, which will significantly expand the law enforcement resource footprint in West Tennessee for drug investigations and interdiction.
• He participated in the DOJ Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force, working closely with other state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify, investigate and prosecute cases involving healthcare fraud and unlawful distribution and diversion of prescription opioids by medical professionals, resulting in the indictments of 16 medical professionals in Memphis and Jackson in 2019.
• He created and sustained a new Carjacking Initiative with ATF and local law enforcement agencies for coordinated, targeted, and increased federal prosecution of armed carjacking offenses in Memphis and Shelby County.
• He served on the Executive Board of the Multi-Agency Gang Unit (MGU), which is comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement officials, with a common goal of combating criminal gang activity in Memphis and Shelby County.
• He initiated and led a combined multi-agency law enforcement operation, “Bluff City Blues” with the U.S. Marshals Service in Memphis and Jackson that resulted in a total of 214 arrests, including 79 identified gang members, 65 individuals for aggravated assault, 34 individuals for homicide, 69 individuals for weapons offenses, and 40 individuals for drug offenses, and the seizure of 28 firearms.
• He initiated and led the “Operation Crime Driver” anti-violence initiative in Tipton County, TN, partnering with multiple state and local law enforcement agencies to target violent offenders with outstanding arrest warrants. The operation resulted in the federal indictments of six individuals from Tipton County, TN for firearms and drug offenses, including Maurice Nash, A/K/A “Monster,” of Atoka, TN who was sentenced as an armed career criminal to over 17 years in federal prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
• He hosted Attorney General Sessions, Attorney General Barr, and Acting Attorney General Whitaker in Memphis for announcements of major DOJ initiatives, including PSP, ATF Gun Strike Force & Crime Gun Intelligence Center, Project Guardian, and Operation LeGend.
• After the Attorney General designated Memphis as one of a few select cities to receive enhanced federal resources to combat violent crime, Mr. Dunavant led the law enforcement efforts of both the Operation Relentless Pursuit and Operation LeGend initiatives, coordinating with the ATF, FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to surge and deploy 40 new temporary and permanent federal agents into Memphis to work with the Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Multi-Agency Gang Unit, and the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office in a sustained and systematic task force model to fight high levels of violent crime.
• He secured the allocation of DOJ federal grant funding for local law enforcement agencies in support of Operation LeGend and related efforts: City of Memphis Police Department – $9,823,624 (COPS Hiring Program funds, to hire 50 new officers); Shelby County Sheriff’s Office – $1,628,571 (Operation Relentless Pursuit/Operation LeGend); City of Memphis – $500,000 (Real Time Crime Center); Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office – $398,864 (Project Guardian).
• He led public awareness efforts at the onset and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage reporting and investigation of hoarding and price-gouging of critical medical supplies, PPP fraud, treatment and vaccine scams, and COVID relief/stimulus fraud.
• He coordinated with federal, state, and local law enforcement to protect critical infrastructure sites and mitigate threat risks to significant events, including election security, federal buildings and property, and the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination (MLK 50 – April 4, 2018).
• He developed and launched three new video public service announcements (PSAs) providing targeted messaging to educate and inform the public to raise awareness and increase reporting about the Department of Justice priority areas of violent crime, elder fraud, and opioids.
• He joined with ATF and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to launch the “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy” public awareness campaign to warn about the seriousness of the crime of purchasing a firearm for someone who cannot legally do so, and to deter potential straw purchases.