Louisiana
New U.S. attorney for Middle District of Louisiana increases indictments by 200%
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Kurt Wall, the newly appointed US Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana, said his focus is attacking violent crime, eliminating cartels, and enforcing immigration law, in line with the Trump Administration.
“The cartels have their tentacles all across this country, and just because we are in Baton Rouge and not in New York or Miami does not mean we are not affected by them,” Wall said.
Part of his job is to defend the federal government in wrongful detention cases. Wall said when authorities arrest dangerous individuals with warrants, they will also detain others found at the scene who are in the country illegally.
“They are not leaving them, they are going to get swept up too, whether you think that’s a good thing or bad thing, it’s not for me to comment on, but that’s what is happening,” Wall said.
Recent prosecutions and increased activity
The Middle District Court sentenced five people connected to a large-scale cocaine and heroin trafficking ring based out of East Baton Rouge Parish on Wednesday.
“We’re going to put our foot to the pedal and go after them hard,” Wall said.
In his first 60 days, Wall’s office has increased indictments by 200% compared to a similar time frame last year. Some of that increase has come from immigration enforcement.
“Previous administrations weren’t quite as strict when it came to those coming across our border and who was going to get detained — this administration has put an emphasis on that — they are detaining more people, so consequently we are going to get more petitions from people claiming they have been detained illegally,” Wall said.
Wall is serving a four-year term for the Middle District.
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