 In 2007, Brownlee and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Giorno prosecuted a federal inmate for committing a violent prison murder.The jury imposed the death penalty, the first federal death penalty conviction in the Western District of Virginia.On November 2, 2006, a federal Grand Jury charged 20 defendants for their roles in a racketeering conspiracy that included the distribution of illegal drugs, theft of drugs and firearms under the custody of the Henry County Sheriff's Office, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.