Royal Kingdom of Cambodia Confers Order of Merit – Gold Class Medal on Mark MacDougall for Successful Trial Defense of Cambodian Government Official

SEPTEMBER 2024

On September 24, 2024, the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia conferred the Order of Merit – Gold Class medal on Schertler Onorato Mead & Sears partner Mark MacDougall along with Akin Gump partner Stacey Mitchell.  The gold medals were awarded to Mr. MacDougall and Ms. Mitchell 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 gold medals to Mr. MacDougall and Ms. Mitchell during a formal ceremony at the Permanent Mission of Cambodia to the United Nations in New York.

Masphal Kry, a senior officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia, was charged in July 2022 – in a sealed indictment – with conspiracy and related violations of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).  The charges in the indictment related to allegations of unlawful practices in the export of long-tailed macaques for use in human medical research.  In November 2022, Mr. Kry was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York while in transit to an international CITES conference in Panama.

Mr. MacDougall and Ms. Mitchell led a combined team of lawyers from SOMS and Akin Gump– along with Florida attorney John Byrne – in defending Mr. Kry 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 Mr. Kry of all criminal charges.  SOMS associate Paola Pinto also played an important role in the successful trial defense of Mr. Kry.

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 Mr. Kry’s trial at all levels of Cambodian society and the importance of the Miami jury’s verdict in confirming his innocence of all charges.  Immediately following entry of the verdict on March 22, 2024, Mr. Kry returned to his home in Phnom Penh where he has resumed his official duties with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.