[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 43 (Monday, March 13, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     REMEMBERING A. DUANE SCHWARTZ

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the life of a 
devoted public servant, A. Duane Schwartz, who passed away earlier this 
year.
  Duane was widely admired for his strong fidelity to the law and his 
dedication to justice. For 20 years, he served the Western District of 
Kentucky as the head of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney's 
office and, during that time, successfully prosecuted the Imperial 
Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Louisville. He also helped end what was 
then the largest methamphetamine lab in the Midwest. Duane fought for 
justice and left his community better than he found it.
  He also worked to keep government accountable to the people. As a 
leader in Operation Boptrot, Duane led the undercover investigation 
against and eventual conviction of many State legislators for taking 
bribes.
  Duane earned the praise of multiple U.S. attorneys under whom he 
worked and was awarded the Justice Department's Special Achiever Award 
by Attorney General Janet Reno in 1999.
  I was proud to know Duane as a classmate in law school. Even back 
then, he was known for his integrity, commitment, and warmth. I would 
like to extend my deepest condolences to his wife, Ann, and I would ask 
all of my colleagues here to join me in honoring this distinguished 
servant of the law.
  The Courier-Journal published an article on Duane's career. I ask 
unanimous consent that a copy of the article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Courier-Journal, Jan 11, 2017]

               Veteran Prosecutor A. Duane Schwartz Dies

                          (By Andrew Wolfson)

       A. Duane Schwartz, who supervised the prosecution of public 
     corruption probe Operation Boptrot as the longtime head of 
     the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's office in 
     Louisville, died Saturday at his home. He was 74.
       Schwartz was diagnosed seven years ago with Alzheimer's 
     disease, according to his daughter, Jennifer Scutchfield, an 
     attorney and city council member in Lexington.
       During two separate tenures in the office, Schwartz 
     successfully prosecuted the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux 
     Klan in Louisville as well as defendants responsible for the 
     then-largest methamphetamine lab in the Midwest, according to 
     a citation from the Justice Department.
       He led the prosecution of Boptrot, the undercover 
     investigation that resulted in conviction of more than a 
     dozen state legislators from 1992 to 1995 for taking bribes 
     and other inducements.
       More recently, in 1999, he tried and convicted Brennan 
     Callan for partially sinking the Belle of Louisville, winning 
     a 30-month sentence and an order for $987,000 in restitution.
       Former U.S. Attorney Joe Whittle in an interview Wednesday 
     called Schwartz ``an all-American guy'' and one of the best 
     prosecutors he ever worked with.
       ``I valued his counsel on whether to prosecute or not,'' 
     Whittle said. ``He was a moral man.''
       John Kuhn, the current U.S. attorney, said in a statement 
     that Schwartz was ``universally recognized as an outstanding 
     prosecutor, a sage leader, and a warm, faithful, loving 
     friend. Duane elevated the quality of our work and 
     strengthened our commitment to justice.''
       Schwartz ran track and played basketball, baseball and 
     football at Atherton High School, and despite a car accident 
     that he later said ruined his knees, he was recruited by 
     several universities before deciding on the University of 
     Kentucky, where his father wanted him to go so he could see 
     him play.
       But coach Blanton Collier left after Schwartz's freshman 
     year and his successor, Charlie Bradshaw, ``turned football 
     into a nightmare,'' Schwartz said years later when he was 
     honored by Atherton. His experience is cited in author 
     Shannon Ragland's ``The Thin Thirty: The Untold Story of 
     Brutality, Scandal and Redemption Schwartz's for Charlie 
     Bradshaw's 1962 Kentucky Football Team.'' Schwartz switched 
     to baseball, won a scholarship and lettered in the sport for 
     three years.
       After graduating from UK's law school in 1967, he returned 
     to Louisville, where he was general counsel for Tube Turns, 
     served from 1971 as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's 
     office, and then left to work for 10 years as regional 
     counsel for the U.S. Postal Service. He returned to the U.S. 
     attorney's office where he was chief of the criminal section 
     for 20 years until his retirement in 2004.
       He was honored by Attorney General Janet Reno for superior 
     service in 1999 and also won the Justice Department's special 
     achiever award.

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