Mark Totten, the recently appointed United States District Attorney for Michigan’s Western District, made a tour around the central Upper Peninsula in late February visiting with law enforcement leaders, government officials and the media in hopes of better connecting with the district.
“Our job is to enforce federal law and uphold the rule of law to keep the district safe,” he said.
The Michigan Western District includes 49 counties, consisting of all the Upper Peninsula and the western half of the lower peninsula, including Lansing. There are two offices, one in Grand Rapids and another in Marquette, but the U.P. office has roughly 10 percent of the total labor force of the office.
Totten’s main focus currently in the area is narcotics. There has been a steady increase in drug usage and trafficking in the Upper Peninsula, including fentanyl. Unlike other areas of the country, fentanyl in the area is typically seen as an additive, causing more harm in the form of counterfeit pills.
“This is not just killing people on a long path of drug addiction, but first-time users too, mixed with cocaine or methamphetamines,” he said. “What we’re seeing a lot of is it in counterfeit pills, so people think they’re taking something like Xanax or Percocet, but they’re fake pills that contain fentanyl.”
The U.S. District Attorney’s Office also deals with a number of tribal cases due to various treaty provisions. Totten described it as a ‘complex matrix in who prosecutes’ various crimes, with the federal office taking on issues like domestic violence and criminal sexual conduct for tribes, but wouldn’t have the jurisdiction to prosecute those kinds of cases compared to local courts. He hopes that good communication with tribal leaders and law enforcement makes the situation easier, especially on working on projects for missing and murdered indigenous people.
“These relationships with tribal leaders, prosecutors and law enforcement are all really important,” Totten said. “Our channels of communication are open so we can be better partners.”
The office is also tasked with maintaining civil rights for all citizens, based on the historical creation of the U.S. Department of Justice to help break up the KKK. Nowadays, that can range from calmer issues like prosecuting violators of the American Disability Act or prosecuting the group accused of kidnapping Governor Gretchen Whitmer last year.
