Jim Letten

James B. Letten
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana
In office April 30, 2001 – December 11, 2012 (resigned)
Appointed by	George W. Bush (retained in office by Barack Obama)
Preceded by	Eddie J. Jordan Jr.
Succeeded by	Kenneth Polite
Personal details
Born	September 12, 1953 New Orleans, Louisiana
Alma mater	University of New Orleans B.A., 1976 Tulane University Law School J.D., 1979

James B. "Jim" Letten (born September 12, 1953) is an American attorney. A career prosecutor, Letten served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana for more than eleven years. By the time Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney in December 2012, he was the longest-serving U.S. Attorney in the country.

After stepping down, Letten joined Tulane University Law School as an assistant dean. Letten later became of counsel with the firm of Butler Snow, while retaining his post at Tulane.

Letten was born at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans on September 12, 1953. He is the only son of Alden and Dorothy "Dot" Letten; his father was a steel fabricator.

Letten graduated from De La Salle High School in 1971. He received his B.A. from the University of New Orleans in 1976 and his J.D. from the Tulane University Law School in 1979.

Letten worked for Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. for four years. In 1982, Letten became a federal prosecutor, beginning on an organized crime strike force. He was part of the team that prosecuted several leaders of the New Orleans mafia and figures from the New York crime families.

From 1994 to 2001, Letten was first assistant U.S. attorney under then-U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan Jr. (who later became Orleans Parish district attorney). In that position Letten was best known as the lead prosecutor in the racketeering trial of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. Letten also prosecuted former state representative David Duke.

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