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	DA Newsletter Press Releases Opinion Editorials

For Immediate Release
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Contact: Ingrid Wyatt
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DA ROD PACHECO HONORED BY LATINOS OF DISTINCTION

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, October 22, 2007: Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco received the 2007 Community Service of the Year Award at the Latinos of Distinction Awards Dinner. The event recognizes local leaders who have contributed greatly to the Inland Empire Latino community. The announcement was made Friday night at a dinner at the Ontario Convention Center. Pacheco was honored "for making a significant contribution to the quality of life and economic vitality of Latinos in the region in your respective field."

"I am deeply honored to receive this distinction in the company of such an esteemed group of leaders from the Latino community," said District Attorney Rod Pacheco.

Pacheco was instrumental in leading the drive by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George to send a strike force team of judges to help clear up the backlog of cases in Riverside Superior Court.

Pacheco was sworn as Riverside County District Attorney in January of this year. He leads the third largest district attorney's office in California with a staff of more than 800 employees, including 300 prosecutors.

Pacheco began his career in the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 1984. During his tenure, he specialized in homicide and death penalty cases. Five of those murderers are currently awaiting execution on California's death row.

In 1996, Pacheco became the first Latino Republican elected to the California State Assembly in more than a century. After serving his term in the California legislature, he returned to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office in 2002.

When then District Attorney Grover Trask announced his retirement in 2004, Pacheco announced his intention to run for Trask's seat. He ran unopposed in the June 6, 2006 primary and was elected District Attorney.

Pacheco is a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1980 at the University of California Riverside and in 1983 received his law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.