Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service awarded to Arcola High School graduate Tim Kirkham and his FBI Counterterrorism team.
On October 21st The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service was awarded to Supervisory Special Agent Timothy Kirkham, a 1981 Arcola High School graduate and the son of Gene and Linda Kirkham of Arcola. The award was presented by Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller at constitution hall in Washington DC.
The Attorney Generals Award for Distinguished Service is one of the nations highest awards for law enforcement and was awarded to Special Agent Kirkham and members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force that he supervised regarding their investigation, prosecution and conviction of Ali Saleh Kaleh Al-Marri. Al-Marri is an admitted AlQaida member who was sent to the United States on Sept. 10, 2001 by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the mastermind of the September 11th attacks on the United States. The FBI team and Department of Justice Prosecutors unraveled an international conspiracy and successfully completed one of the most high-profile terrorism cases in Department of Justice history.
In additon to Special Agent Kirkham the award also went to the following members of the Springfield FBI JTTF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois:. David E. Risley, Assistant U.S. Attorney; Jaci L. Carrell, Paralegal Specialist; John H. Stafford, Assistant Special Agent in Charge; Matthew J. Iskrzycki, Supervisory Special Agent; Scott B. Easton, Special Agent; Thomas Michael Shanahan, Mary Kay Eades and Rebecca L. Miller, Intelligence Analysts from the FBI.
Special Agent Kirkham now resides in Amman, Jordan where he is the FBI section head for all FBI operations in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
