ABINGDON, VA—United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy announced today that the Anti-Defamation League [ADL] has awarded a local team of prosecutors and investigators with the group’s 2014 SHIELD Award. SHIELD stands for Service, Honor, Integrity, Excellence, Leadership and Dedication.

Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, FBI Special Agent Timothy Burke of the Richmond Division and FBI Special Agent Stanley Slater of the Atlanta Division were presented with their awards during a September 17 ceremony in Washington D.C. The three were presented the award for the investigation and prosecution of Michael Lee Fullmore.

“The Fullmore prosecution was yet another example of the strong level of interagency cooperation we enjoy in Southwest Virginia,” United States Attorney Heaphy said today. “We are pleased and grateful that the Anti-Defamation League recognized that coordination and the extraordinary efforts of AUSA Lee and the agents who pursued this case.”

Fullmore, a member of the Georgia Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, was sentenced to 52 months of federal incarceration following pleading guilty to two counts of providing firearms to a convicted felon. According to information presented in court by AUSA Lee, Fullmore began taking steps to establish a more violent and radical sub-group of the KKK, which he intended would commit violent crimes against minorities. Fullmore believed the new KKK sub-group could be supported by selling firearms to convicted felons and militia groups.

On numerous occasions, Fullmore sold firearms, including an AR-15 assault rifle and an AK-47 assault rifle with an obliterated serial number, to a convicted felon in Georgia and Virginia who was working with the FBI as a confidential informant.

At the ceremony the ADL honored law enforcement heroes who have protected the nation and communities from hate crimes and terrorist threats. The SHIELD award was created in 2010 to annually honor law enforcement for major successes in the fight against hate crimes and domestic and international terrorism. The Award’s name reflects law enforcement’s role as protectors, and is also an acronym for the core values of the profession: Service, Honor, Integrity, Excellence, Leadership, and Dedication.