Several law enforcement officials and victim advocates were recognized Monday for cases that involved tactics, strategies, undercover assignments and confidential informants to bring criminals to justice.

The men and woman -- many whose identities are kept confidential so they can keep up the same level of work -- were honored in U.S. District Court in Wheeling for the 2012 United States Attorney Awards.

The honorees are from across West Virginia's Northern District and their services are not the like the everyday stories that make headlines. The risks taken and crimes they fought are more like something out of a movie script.

The courtroom inside the federal building was packed for accolades like those who shut down major northern West Virginia crime rings in what was called Operation Double Down.

"This group was responsible for distributing more than 150,000 30-milligram oxycodone pills in a year's period of time in Ohio and Marshall County," one official said.

Each award was prefaced with a background of the cases, like a drug and weapons investigation called Operation Blue Haze that is so under wraps that full details weren't discussed, only findings after the investigation.


Officials said they were able to make a number of "digitally recorded controlled buys of firearms, ammunition, ballistic vests, and controlled substances."

Also honored were those responsible for taking down sex offenders, some of them with cases detailing crimes against children. Local Deputy Lt. Joseph Cuchta of the Ohio County Sheriff's Department was among those honored. Cuchta's work led to the arrest of Kevin Blaine Johnson, an Ohio County man charged with sex crimes against a young boy.

"He left no stone unturned. He put together a 26-page police report, with every detail you can imagine. All the prosecutors in this room can attest to how critical it is to have an outstanding police report," said William J. Ihlenfeld II, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia,

After hard work in the field, the recipients were honored in the same court that brought the subjects of their efforts to justice.