Deputy DA Honored As California Prosecutor of the Year
Recognizing his years spent fighting drug cartels, the California District Attorneys Association has named San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Mark Amador its prosecutor of the year.
“I am so proud of Deputy DA Mark Amador,” San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said. “His tenacity, perseverance, professionalism, work ethic and dedication to justice make him a role model for attorneys throughout the state. He is clearly one of the finest and we’re lucky to have him pursuing justice in San Diego.”
The District Attorney’s Office says over the past five years, Amador has dedicated himself to the Los Palillos prosecution, a case involving 17 defendants, nine murders and 15 kidnappings by a rogue cell of the Arellano-Felix Organization.
Amador first became involved in the case during its investigation and was greatly responsible for taking action that saved the life of one of the group’s hostages. Thereafter, he presented evidence at a two-month grand jury hearing, and prosecuted five trials, for which he spent a total of 21 actual months in trial, acting as lead prosecutor in three of them and co-chairing the other two.
The longest and most complex of the trials led by Amador was the death penalty trial of the leaders of the organization that lasted more than a year. He persevered despite threats against him and his family, personal attacks on his character and an unsuccessful attempt to have him removed from the case by the defense, the DA’s Office said.
In the end, Amador sent all that he tried to prison for life without the possibility of parole.