Ivan L. R. Lemelle
Senior Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Incumbent
Assumed office June 29, 2015
Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
In office April 7, 1998 – June 29, 2015
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Veronica D. Wicker
Succeeded by	Barry Ashe
Magistrate Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
In office 1984–1998
Personal details
Born	(1950-06-29)June 29, 1950 (age 75) Opelousas, Louisiana, U.S.
Education	Xavier University of Louisiana (BS) Loyola University New Orleans (JD)

Ivan L. R. Lemelle (born June 29, 1950)^[1] is aseniorUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Born inOpelousas,Louisiana, Lemelle received aBachelor of Science degree fromXavier University of Louisiana in 1971 and aJuris Doctor fromLoyola University New Orleans School of Law in 1974. He was alaw clerk for Robert Collins of theOrleans Parish Criminal District Court from 1972 to 1974.^[2]

Lemelle was anassistant district attorney ofOrleans Parish from 1974 to 1977. He was in private practice inNew Orleans from 1977 to 1981. He was an assistant city attorney of New Orleans from 1977 to 1978. He was an assistant state attorney general of Louisiana Department of Justice from 1980 to 1984.^[2]

Lemelle served asUnited States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1984 to 1998.

On February 12, 1997, Lemelle was nominated by PresidentBill Clinton to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana vacated by JudgeVeronica D. Wicker. He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on April 3, 1998, and received his commission on April 7, 1998. He assumedsenior status on June 29, 2015.^[2]

• In 2009, Lemelle was assigned theRacketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case alleged againstRenée Gill Pratt andMose Jefferson, brother of formerU.S. representativeWilliam J. Jefferson, who simultaneously stood indicted on sixteen counts in federal court inVirginia. On 2009 July 28, Lemelle delayed the start of the racketeering trial to 2010 January 25.^[3] In two separate trials during August 2009, William J. Jefferson was convicted on 11 felony counts related to bribery; Mose Jefferson, on four.^[4]

• In 2009, Lemelle heard a real estate fraud case against Michael O'Keefe Jr. (born c. 1959), the son of formerLouisiana State Senate PresidentMichael H. O'Keefe Sr. The younger O'Keefe was at the time the president of Citywide Mortgage Company of New Orleans. He pleaded guilty to making false statements during a transaction with theUnited States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The scam involved fraudulent appraisals, credit documents, and loan applications. O'Keefe was ordered to pay nearly $700,000 in restitution. He also served in prison for nearly two years.^[5]

• On September 11, 2009, Lemelle visited Kentwood High School and O. W. Dillon Memorial Elementary School (both inKentwood, Louisiana), Roseland Elementary School (inRoseland, Louisiana), and Northwood Preparatory High School (inAmite, Louisiana)—all inTangipahoa Parish. The three schools are subject to potential changes, depending on Lemelle's ruling on a 4-decades-old desegregation-related settlement.^[6]

In November 2020, it was proposed by the New Orleans City Council Street Renaming Commission that Capdevielle Street (named afterPaul Capdevielle, aConfederate hero and former mayor) be renamed for Lemelle. He was the only living person proposed for such an honor. The decision process was ongoing as of February 2021.^[7]

Lemelle isCatholic, raised in Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Opelousas, the largestBlack Catholic church in the country.^[8]

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

• Ivan L. R. Lemelle at theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.

• 1950 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American judges
• 21st-century American judges
• African-American Catholics
• African-American judges
• Catholics from Louisiana
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
• Loyola University New Orleans College of Law alumni
• People from Opelousas, Louisiana
• United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
• United States magistrate judges
• Xavier University of Louisiana alumni

• Articles with short description
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• FJC Bio template with ID same as Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges