Paulose's allies rise to her defense

Among the complaints lodged against U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose when she took office in Minnesota was that she overemphasized Justice Department priorities, such as child pornography and human trafficking, at the expense of local concerns such as gangs, white-collar crime and guns.

Yet, despite the turmoil that her management practices ignited, Paulose and her staff eventually drew accolades from law enforcement and nonprofit agencies for their work on most types of crimes.

Now, with Paulose departing for a policy job at the Justice Department's Washington headquarters in January, some question whether her prosecution priorities will survive.

It's a reasonable question.

"Department of Justice priorities are traditionally established in Washington," David Anderson, Minnesota office spokesman, said Wednesday. "Like all U.S. attorneys' offices across the country, we are awaiting guidance from the new attorney general as to any change in national priorities."

Paulose herself made no apologies for implementing the agenda of then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "Certainly, when any U.S. attorney comes in, you refocus priorities," she said in an interview last spring. "And we did that based on the national mandate, as tailored to local needs." But, she added, "Every priority we selected in this district is because we perceived a need in Minnesota and a responsibility for the U.S. attorney's office to respond."

Paulose played a strong role in getting law enforcement agencies to pull together on child pornography and human trafficking cases, resulting in some noteworthy prosecutions, said Linda Miller, executive director of Civil Society, a nonprofit agency that helps trafficking victims.

Miller said Paulose worked with her organization for nearly two years, helped it secure funds and made sure that someone from her office was available around the clock, seven days a week.

"The history that we have had under her has been lost," Miller said.

Paulose quit Monday after a second major upheaval with her staff. Some were upset about comments she had made to a Minneapolis blogger, implying that their criticisms of her management practices were prompted by ethnic, religious or sexist bias.

Miller wonders whether Paulose's replacement will show the same dedication to human trafficking cases and their victims.

Vednita Carter, executive director of Breaking Free, an organization that helps former prostitutes, said she expects changes. "If they don't come in there with the same sort of drive and understanding as to the seriousness of this issue, it's definitely going to have a very negative impact," Carter said.

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said it took awhile for local law enforcement and Paulose to come to an understanding about prosecution priorities. Human trafficking and Internet porn was on top of her list, Stanek said, while he and others were more concerned about gangs, drugs and guns. Stanek said they met in the middle.

"Her list was worthy, but we had different goals for what we were seeing on the streets," he said. "She was very gracious when I talked to her."

Lt. Andrew Smith, head of the Minneapolis Police Department's Violent Offender Task Force, has praise for Paulose and her staff. Since August, his investigators have put together cases that brought more than 30 indictments, the bulk against gang members.

"That's a great number," Smith said. "We've gotten very good service from her office. Attorneys have been available to us on weekends, holidays and at night."

The task force helped bring down the Tre Tre Crips gang on the city's North Side, a young and particularly violent gang, as well as the more established Bloods gang on the South Side.

Smith said Paulose's leadership had an impact, but he doesn't expect any setbacks when she leaves. The people doing the work always did an excellent job, he said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan had no complaints about his department's relationship with Paulose. "We're a primary customer," he said. "I don't believe any of the political turmoil in her office impacted cases."

But Dolan is concerned that his department might lose a federally funded "Weed and Seed" grant for the North Side that Paulose was supporting. The four-year grant would fund local crime-prevention programs with $250,000 annually. He said the grants have successfully reduced crime in Phillips and Central neighborhoods in south Minneapolis.

Ron Ryan, head of the Metro Gang Strike Force, said Paulose continued to direct federal funding toward anti-gang initiatives started by her predecessor, Tom Heffelfinger. Ryan also complimented her office's work with the St. Paul Police Department, which he said brought the Latin Kings gang "to their knees."

But Ryan said Paulose's leaving won't affect the six federal-level gang investigations his office has going.

Some criticism disputed

B.J. Zapor, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the tempo in firearms cases increased under Paulose. These included gang cases in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and armed drug trafficker cases in Duluth.

Crime on Indian reservations -- a top priority for Heffelfinger -- was also a focus for Paulose, Zapor said. The assistant U.S. attorney assigned to Indian country prosecution was deployed to the military, but Zapor said other prosecutors picked up the cases.

Adam Behnen, assistant inspector in charge for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service office in St. Paul, called Paulose "a great U.S. attorney."My relationship with that office has been just tremendous, and particularly since she's taken over," he said. "She was doing all the right things, from my perspective. She's the first U.S. attorney that's ever come and visited our office. Usually you do not have easy access to the U.S. attorney."

Behnen disputes criticisms that Paulose didn't push white-collar crimes aggressively. "As a matter of fact, she has been encouraging us to work more white-collar crime," he said.

White-collar crime investigations have only increased in the past two years, especially in the area of mortgage fraud, Behnen said. He said the office has an excellent staff and he doesn't expect any changes after she leaves.

John Kirkwood, special-agent-in-charge of the U.S. Secret Service office in Minneapolis, agrees. He said Paulose has been a "great partner" and he expects that will continue with whoever replaces her.

"We've enjoyed an excellent relationship with the U.S. attorney's office in not only pursuing our criminal matters and investigations, but they're also very supportive ... in our protective mission as well," Kirkwood said.

dbrowning@startribune.com • 612-673-4493 dchanen@startribune.com • 612-673-4465