prosecuted
v.v. to officially charge someone with a crime and put them on trial in a court of law. It is what the government or police do when they believe someone broke the law.
v. to institute legal proceedings against a person or organisation in a court of law. Transitive; typically takes a person or entity as the direct object.
The shoplifter was prosecuted for stealing the expensive watch.
The district attorney decided to have the suspect prosecuted after new evidence emerged from the crime scene.
Legal experts debated whether the former executive could be successfully prosecuted under current statutes, given the complexity of the international financial transactions involved.
The verb is transitive and often appears in the passive voice ('was prosecuted').
The police prosecuted to the thief.The police prosecuted the thief.Prosecute is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without the preposition 'to'.