(Fremont County, WY) – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming will be working closely with the Fremont County Attorney’s Office to prosecute gun crimes related to domestic violence, according to a press release issued Friday.
The effort comes as the U.S. Department of Justice designated Fremont County – along with 78 other communities across the United States – as a community that could benefit from increased intimate partner violence resources and where the local jurisdiction is committed to partnering with the Department to increase the use of federal tools to prosecute offenders, the press release states.
The designation was made under Section 1103 of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, also known as VAWA.
“The VAWA designation of Fremont County allows for a state prosecutor to serve as a Special Assistant United States Attorney who can then prosecute gun crimes in federal court,” Acting U.S. Attorney Eric Heimann explained. “This partnership will allow for the federal prosecution of appropriate domestic violence offenders prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms.
“Prosecution of federal gun crimes committed by these offenders will result in significant prison sentences, which will make Fremont County safer by removing these violent offenders from the community and deterring others from unlawfully possessing or using guns.”
Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun said the partnership “will greatly increase options available to Fremont County law enforcement in deterring violent domestic batterers from possessing firearms and escalating levels of violence.”
“Local law enforcement is the frontline defender fighting this scourge in Fremont County,” LeBrun said. “And with this designation, the option of additional prosecution resources and stricter punishment for the appropriate offender will be a telephone call away.”
The VAWA designation and partnership between the Fremont County Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a Justice Department program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and in support of the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime, according to this week’s press release.
For more information call the Fremont County Attorney’s Office at (307) 332-1162.