Member of U.S. Attorney’s Office Receives J. Michael Bradford Memorial Award from National Association of Former United States Attorneys

NEWARK, N.J. - An Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of New Jersey was recognized by the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys (NAFUSA) today during their annual meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

NAUFA selected AUSA John Romano to receive the J. Michael Bradford Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Assistant U.S. Attorney, which recognizes an AUSA for outstanding performance in a significant civil or criminal matter, or a series of matters, that have had a significant impact and merit special recognition.

AUSA Romano was selected for his outstanding advocacy from 2015 through 2024 in United States v. Carolyn Jackson and John Jackson, a case involving two defendants' horrifying treatment of their three very young foster children while living at the Picatinny Arsenal and elsewhere. The three children were all less than 4 years old and developmentally delayed when the defendants committed neglectful and cruel acts, including breaking their bones, denying them medical attention, withholding water, and force-feeding them hot sauce.

"The defendants' foster children suffered gut-wrenching abuse and neglect. AUSA Romano's work - specifically, his continuous and dogged efforts to seek justice for these vulnerable victims - exemplifies his devotion to the department's mission and warrants this award."

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger

For more than nine years, AUSA Romano has played a pivotal role in this effort to secure justice for the defendants' victims. He initially helped advise the trial team. When, despite the defendants' grievous conduct, the district court sentenced them leniently, AUSA Romano successfully appealed. The district court again imposed a lenient sentence, and so AUSA Romano appealed again. After a third, lenient sentencing, AUSA Romano appealed and sought reassignment to a different judge, which the Third Circuit Court of Appeals granted.

These appeals required reviewing tens of thousands of pages of transcripts and exhibits and conducting exhaustive legal research. AUSA Romano also composed appellate briefs for all three appeals, which totaled in excess of 60,000 pages of briefing, and twice argued the case before the Court of Appeals.

In October 2023, AUSA Romano handled the fourth resentencing hearing before the newly assigned district judge. As a result of his compelling advocacy, both written and oral, he secured sentences of 140 months' imprisonment for Carolyn Jackson and 108 months' imprisonment for John Jackson.