Matthew Serratto, a supervising deputy district attorney in
the Merced County District Attorney’s office, has been named 2018 Prosecutor ofthe Year (Small and Medium Size Counties) by the California District Attorneys
Association Board of Directors. He willbe honored during the Awards Banquet at the CDAA Summer Conference on Thursday,
August 2, in Anaheim, District Attorney Larry D. Morse II announced today.
“Matt is an exceptionally talented and dedicatedprosecutor. His work in and out of the
courtroom in 2017 was simply incredible and he is most deserving of thishighest honor for a prosecutor. We are
hugely proud of Matt and his continuing contributions to public safety inMerced County,” Morse said, noting that Serratto is the first Merced County
prosecutor to be recognized as CDAA Prosecutor of the Year.
Serratto, 37, was selected, in part, for his trial work in2017, which included securing guilty verdicts in three murder cases, two of
them involving multiple defendants, and a guilty verdict in an attemptedhomicide case. All of the cases were
driven by gang activity, and two included special circumstance allegationswhich resulted in life sentences, according to Morse.
Serratto was also the lead prosecutor in Operation
Scrapbook, a 2017 multi-agency investigation directed by the DistrictAttorney’s office that targeted Sureno gang members operating in Merced County
and the Central Valley, Morse said. Operation Scrapbook led to the arrest of 74 gang members and theirassociates. Forty of the gang members
prosecuted by the Merced County DA’s office have already been convicted, theothers are awaiting trial. Fourteen of
those arrested are being prosecuted federally, Morse noted.
“It is an honor to be recognized by CDAA,” Serratto said. “Every case we handle and every trial we putin front of a jury is truly a team effort – from the officers spending days on
nights on surveillance in order to keep our streets safe from violent gangmembers to all of our colleagues in the DA’s office who send the subpoenas, get
witnesses to court and ensure we are prepared for trial to our attorneys andmanagement who help talk us through cases, share ideas and put us in the best
position to achieve justice.”
Since joining the District Attorneys office in 2007 Serratto has tried 57 cases to verdict, including seven murder cases, six attempted murder cases and 17 cases with a life sentence exposure. He was promoted to supervising deputy district attorney earlier this year.
Serratto also serves as a member of the Merced City Council,having been elected in 2016 and was recognized last year as one of the Merced
Sun-Star’s “20 Under 40” up and coming community leaders.
Born and raised the Bay Area, Serratto graduated from St.Ignatius High School in San Francisco. He earned his Bachelors Degree from UC Davis in 2002, where he was a
member of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the UnitedStates. Following graduation he taught English in Belgium and Argentina through 2003 before returning to California to study law at UCLA where he also served as editor in chief of the Pacific Basin Law Journal, graduating in 2006.