(LANSING) – Branch County Prosecutor Zach Stempien took part in a press conference Wednesday to announce a new initiative.

Stempien along with Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting, other prosecutors and a State Representative, joined Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to talk about Operation Survivor Justice.

The initiative, a partnership between the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, local County Prosecutors, and the U.S. Marshals Service, is working to locate, apprehend, and return to Michigan fugitive offenders with outstanding sexual assault warrants. The Operation is being funded by a $1 million appropriation from the Michigan Legislature, included in the department’s latest budget signed into law this summer.

Under Operation Survivor Justice, the U.S. Marshals Service will work with the Department of Attorney General and locally elected prosecutors to track down and take into custody criminal defendants across the continental United States at a significant cost reduction compared to private extradition services.

Nessel’s office has already this year partnered with Stepmien’s office and the U.S. Marshals Service to apprehend and prosecute defendants under the Operation Survivor Justice framework. She is now encouraging other county prosecutors across Michigan to join the initiative.

Stempien says his office would like to thank the Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Marshals for their assistance and for the launch of Operation Survivor Justice. He says the operation has thus far provided for the apprehension and prosecution of multiple alleged criminal sexual conduct cases.

A man who fled to Mexico after being charged five years ago with numerous felonies in Branch County was arraigned on Wednesday in Branch County District Court. 46 year old Anthony Cuyler was brought back to Michigan from Mexico in June in connection with multiple alleged criminal incidents that happened in 2019.