BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has two new top federal prosecutors after each took the oath of office.
U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson on Monday swore in veteran prosecutor Ronald Gathe Jr. as U.S. Attorney for the Baton Rouge-based Middle District of Louisiana.
“I’m really looking forward to this part of this chapter of my life and look forward to serving the people of Louisiana,” Gathe said, The Advocate reported.
And Brandon Bonaparte Brown was officially sworn in last week at the federal courthouse in Lafayette as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, which has offices in Shreveport, Lafayette, Alexandria, Monroe and Lake Charles.
“I am excited to serve alongside a team of exceptional public servants at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and with the dedicated law enforcement professionals throughout this district. This office will continue to partner with law enforcement and community partners to pursue equal justice under the law," Brown said.
Gathe is a graduate of Xavier University and Southern University Law Center and is the first Black person nominated by a president for the position in the Middle District, created in 1972. Jackson and Stan Lemelle are Black men who served as U.S. Attorney in the Middle District without having been appointed by a president.
Gathe succeeds Brandon Fremin, who had been the Trump administration’s appointee until he resigned at the end of February. Ellison Travis had been serving as the district's interim U.S. Attorney.
Since January, Gathe had been Chief of Trials for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Iberville, West Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupee parishes. He also previously served as an assistant district attorney in the 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Baton Rouge.
Brown replaced David Joseph as U.S. Attorney. Joseph resigned Aug. 3, 2020, after being appointed to a judicial post in the Western District. Alexander C. Van Hook had been serving as acting U.S. Attorney in the interim.
In November 2012, Brown joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Shreveport, serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney. In March 2018, he left to accept a position in private practice and then rejoined the Shreveport Criminal Division in October 2018. He also served as an assistant district attorney in Monroe.
A graduate of Louisiana Tech University, Brown received his law degree from Southern University Law Center in 2007.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
