STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Monroe County’s prosecutor is new to the job, but not to the office. During Mike Mancuso’s time as assistant and first assistant DA, he successfully prosecuted more murder cases than any other prosecutor in the county.
A Monroe County native, Mancuso has worked in the DA’s office for more than 20 years. Now, he’s running it.
“There is a certain weight to it when your name is on the door,” said Mancuso.
Among the new district attorney’s top priorities is to get the office properly staffed, since three experienced prosecutors are set to leave soon.
“The commissioners did agree to a pay increase, so I think that’ll stop the hemorrhage for now and hopefully make it that the county is more competitive,” said Mancuso.
Mancuso had a busy start to his term with a double homicide case. It was the first case tried in the new part of the courthouse.
“Guilty, two counts of murder in the first degree,” said Mancuso.
The office has over 100 active appeals, so to keep prosecutors focused on other pending cases, Mancuso launched an appeals division.
“One of the positions I was able to create was an appellate section chief prosecutor,” said Mancuso.
He says he’s also working on a slew of initiatives, including one that diverts non-violent criminals into treatment for addiction.
“What it’s designed to do is to stop that revolving door in and out of jail, where we have the same people showing up with the same type of nuisance crimes, non-violent, but they’re all generated by some form of addiction,” said Mancuso. “We’ll have a treatment worker at the various courts…try to divert a lot of cases into treatment.”
Another initiative aims to address domestic violence, which Mancuso says is a huge problem in the area.
“I was working with the jail to get a true batterers intervention program for the county inmates, both pre- and post-trial,” said Mancuso.
Plus, “we have a gun violence study that I got a grant for,” said Mancuso. “I’m hoping we can get resources once the analysis is in.”
That’s expected to come next month.
Mancuso has been involved in countless serious cases. Some have been high-profile, like the search for Eric Frein, the arrest of Bryan Kohberger, and the conviction of Arthur Schirmer, known as the Sinister Minister.
What keeps the dad of four going on the job? Mancuso says, “in that ugliness, I also see people working together and dealing with problems in a constructive way, and that usually tends to outweigh the bad, so I stay optimistic.”
Mancuso says he would like to speak with schools and groups about civics and the role of a prosecutor.
Read More: Monroe County DA discusses priorities, new initiatives | Poconos and Coal Region