CLARKSBURG — The list of dignitaries gathered in Clarksburg for the investiture of U.S. Marshal J.C. Raffety was impressive.
But what more would you expect?
After all, this is a lawman who got his start in 1966 and has served as an FBI special agent, an FBI senior resident agent, an FBI supervisory senior resident agent, chief of police in Buckhannon, interim chief of police for Elkins, Upshur County commissioner and part-time contract investigator for the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office. And not least, of course, was his service as U.S. marshal in Northern West Virginia from his appointment by President George W. Bush in 2002 through 2010.
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., recommended Raffety to President Trump. During the investiture ceremony Friday in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg, Capito pointed to Raffety’s “storied career in law enforcement in all levels.”
“I know the precedent you set in your last stint as U.S. marshal made it very easy to renominate you to President Trump. And I want to thank President Trump for the faith he placed in me to ask my opinion, but also to move this one through very, very quickly,” Capito said.
“It is important to note there are still (about) 50 U.S. marshals who have not been confirmed and (several) U.S. attorneys still to be confirmed,” she said. “So that says a lot about your background and the way people think of you. So congratulation to you, J.C., for that.
“I know that J.C. — with his background — he loves his country. He loves his state. He cares about upholding the rule of law. He cares about the safety and well-being of the people in our state we call home,” Capito said.
“He’s dedicated his entire life to this country and to our state,” the senator said. “So, that’s the kind of man we want to not just lead the distinguished service of U.S. marshals in the Northern District, but to represent us, as West Virginians, as he takes, again, a national profile.”
Also on hand were two senior U.S. district judges, Irene M. Keeley and Frederick P. Stamp Jr., as well as Chief U.S. District Judge Gina Groh, newly appointed District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh and U.S. Magistrate Judges Michael John Aloi and James P. Mazzone.
While deputy U.S. marshals apprehend fugitives, investigate sex offenders, operate the Witness Security Program, transport federal prisoners and handle criminal forfeiture seizures, a keystone of their work involves protecting the federal judiciary.
“I am delighted, marshal, on behalf of my colleagues and myself to welcome you back for what the senator called the second stint, the second time around,” Keeley said.
“... Things have changed, but they still remain the same, and in the months that you’ve been with us since the commission was signed, it’s been great to get to know you ... to stop by in the morning and chat,” Keeley said.
“What I’d like to communicate to all of you,” she added, glancing toward the packed courtroom, “is the great confidence that the judges have in Marshal Raffety’s judgment, his leadership, his commitment to public service. The law enforcement aspect of our federal public service is in excellent hands under the leadership of Marshal Raffety. He’s accountable, he’s approachable, he’s very collegial. From our perspective as judges, we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Raffety thanked Capito; close friend Mike Taylor, a retired State Police major; Leslie Hoppey-Winkie, a retired FBI special agent who he worked with daily as they successfully investigated a “complex major domestic terrorism case”; Upshur Prosecutor David E. Godwin, whom Raffety knew when Godwin was an assistant U.S. attorney; friends Lance and Kerry Koury; former Chief Deputy Mike Claxton and Alex Neville, who holds that post now; his deputy marshals and the office’s administrative staff; court security officers; and his family, including “Cindy, my beloved wife. I really cannot express the depth of gratitude I owe her for her support during the 48-plus years we have been together.”
Raffety also recalled his days as a teen working as a clerk in the FBI, including the time he was struck with awe when Director J. Edgar Hoover showed up to wait on the same elevator.
And Raffety remembered many different individuals who helped him as made his way through his lengthy FBI career.
“Again, as oft stated, I have been blessed by the many with whom I shared my life,” he said. “If it were possible, I would do it all again, every blessed day. I often, almost daily, find myself remembering those long past whose kindness, gentle spirit and decency befriended me as a youth and especially during summers on my grandparents’ small Illinois farm. They are not unlike those I met, much later in life, residing in West Virginia. To those many from my past and to many of you present today, I owe everything.”
Raffety closed by referencing a quote from British novelist, playwright and short story writer W. Somerset Maugham: “Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding.”
Added Raffety, “I truly believe I have been blessed to experience that grace of which Maugham writes.”