U.S. attorney, Caddo DA announce appointment of special federal prosecutor

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown and Caddo District Attorney James E. Stewart Sr. announced the appointment of a special federal prosecutor during a news conference Monday (Aug. 21) afternoon at the U.S. attorney’s office in Shreveport.

Caddo Assistant District Attorney Jason Waltman will be embedded in the U.S. attorney’s office as a special assistant U.S. attorney while remaining in the employ of the Caddo district attorney’s office.

“Due to the proliferation of gun and gang violence in the Shreveport community, myself and District Attorney Stewart have united in a unique way to fight violent crime in the area by adding a specifically appointed federal prosecutor to work these types of cases,” Brown said.

The accord is the first of its kind in the Western District of Louisiana with a state district attorney’s office.

“SAUSA Jason Waltman is an extremely experienced and knowledgeable prosecutor and knows the federal court system, given he was a former federal criminal defense attorney,” Brown said. “Over the years, he has developed a great working relationship with our assistant U.S. attorneys, federal agents and task force officers and will give us valuable insight when it comes to charging decisions and prosecutive strategy.”

Waltman’s efforts will be focused on the Caddo Parish cases, Brown said.

“Having Jason embedded in the U.S. attorney’s office will help us pick the cases that we need to go forward on and the ones that the U.S. attorneys will handle,” Stewart said, adding that this is a way to keep from duplicating efforts.

There’s the possibility that this effort will be expanded into other parts of the Western District of Louisiana.

“The plan is to see how this works up north. There is no secret that we have most of the violent crime issues in the northern end of our district. In Monroe, Shreveport, Ruston and all points in between,” Brown said. “We are going to see how it works here, probably give it about a year and then we may look to put it in other parts of the district.”

Waltman has worked as a Caddo assistant district attorney since 2016, where he serves as one of the office’s section chiefs in the criminal division. Previously, he worked as a trial attorney with the Capital Assistance Project of Louisiana and in private practice handling criminal, civil and administrative law.

Waltman also served as an Instructor at the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office Training Academy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Baylor University and a juris doctorate from South Texas College of Law.

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