On Thursday, August 17, in a ceremony attended by friends, family, and Sheriff’s Office personnel, Sheriff Mark Hunter presented Detective Andrea Useche with the Sheriff’s Office Commendation Medal for her outstanding work on a long term multifaceted investigation.
In May 2016, Detective Useche began an investigation into a local fraud complaint. As her investigation progressed, she uncovered multiple victims of different crimes and learned that the suspect had been committing serious offenses including bigamy, sexual abuse, and forced labor over the past two decades.
Detective Useche partnered with several federal agencies to further her investigation including the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, U.S. Treasury and the Social Security Administration. Useche identified 10 victims across the country with extensive histories of abuse at the hands of the suspect.
“Day in and day out, all the members at CCSO do a great job and I’m proud of them.” Sheriff Mark Hunter said, “But, clearly in this case Detective Useche went above and beyond, which merits special recognition. Driven by the desire to get justice for the victims and to rid our community of a very bad man, she worked diligently for months to bring this case to a successful conclusion”.
Detective Useche’s team
L-R Ashley Washington AUSA (Assistant United States Attorney) Rob Schwinger FBI, Det Useche, Roger Courser OIG SSA (Office of the Inspector General Social Security Administration) and Andrea Peacock of OIG Treasury
