Stacey Mitchell and Mark MacDougall Receive Order of Merit Gold Medal from Cambodian Government for Successful Trial Defense

The Royal Kingdom of Cambodia has conferred the Order of Merit – Gold Class medal on Akin environment & natural resources partner Stacey Mitchell and Washington, D.C. white collar criminal defense lawyer Mark MacDougall. The gold medals were awarded to Stacey and Mark in recognition of their successful trial defense of Cambodian Government official Masphal Kry in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea presented the medals to the duo during a formal ceremony at the Permanent Mission of Cambodia to the United Nations in New York.

Earlier this year, Stacey and Mark led a combined team of Washington-based lawyers, including Allie Coffin, Dakota Kann, Nicole Franklin, Janie Mahan and Paula Pinto, along with Florida attorney John Byrne, in defending Masphal through a two-week trial in federal court in Miami. On March 22, 2024, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all counts, fully exonerating the Cambodian Government official of all criminal charges.

In awarding the gold medals during United Nations General Assembly Week, his Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Sok Chenda Sophea noted the close attention given to the trial at all levels of Cambodian society and the importance of the U.S. criminal justice system and the Miami jury’s verdict in confirming Masphal’s’s innocence of all charges. Immediately following entry of the verdict on March 22, 2024, Masphal returned home to Phnom Penh where he has resumed his official duties with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

(Learn more here.)

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