Deputy Prosecutor Dan Miller receives award from U.S. Attorney's Office On September 25, 2007, the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana presented awards to two members of the Southwest Indiana Drug Task Force. Evansville Police Detective Cliff Simpson and Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Daniel R. Miller each received the U.S. Attorney’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to a Prosecution Resulting in a Guilty Verdict. The Southwest Indiana Drug Task Force is comprised of drug detectives and prosecutors from the Evansville Police Department, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office, and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office. Rick Chambers, U.S. Marshal Service; Douglas Freyberger, DEA; William T. Gray, FBI; Robert Hornbrook, Indiana State Police; and Kevin Whitaker, ATF also received the U.S. Attorney’s Award. The U.S. Attorney’s Office presented the award to all seven for their work in Operation “Hard Rock.” According to the award each received, Operation “Hard Rock” is a textbook example of what can happen when federal, state, and local authorities pull together to combat drug distribution. DEA, FBI, ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Indiana State Police, the Evansville Police Department, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, and the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office all played significant roles in dismantling three inter-related drug trafficking organizations responsible for supplying large amounts of cocaine, “crack” cocaine, and marijuana to the Evansville area. The investigation began in 2003 and culminated in 2006 with more than thirty seven persons being charged in five separate indictments. The cocaine and marijuana were coming into Southwestern Indiana from Chicago and Nashville, Tennessee. During the course of the investigation, police seized more than three kilograms of cocaine coming to Evansville from Chicago. Although most pled guilty, eight defendants were convicted in four separate jury trials. Of those eight, ten years in prison was the shortest term. Three received life imprisonment.