pat_magee

In a 2018 photo, Pat MaGee (left), formerly serving as the head of the criminal division for the Louisiana Attorney General's Office, after being tapped for the role by Attorney General Jeff Landry.

When former Lafayette prosecutor Pat Magee got the call from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry asking him take over as director of the agency's criminal division, Magee joked that his first reaction was, "Doggone it, Jeff."

Because Magee just couldn't say no.

"When the Attorney General of the state of Louisiana asks you to serve, you — as a responsible citizen — have to," Magee, 49, said. "When the Attorney General of the state of Louisiana who also happens to be your friend calls you and asks you to serve, you certainly have a responsibility."

Despite leaving state prosecuting a few years ago for a private law firm and despite knowing the job would mean an unpredictably gridlocked commute from Lafayette, Magee said he took the opportunity seriously. He's been in the role now for less than a month. 

Magee and Landry, both from the Lafayette area, officially met in the early 2000s at Southern University law school, where they both attended after years serving in the Louisiana National Guard. They remained close through work in Acadiana, but Landry said he still felt it would be a reach to convince Magee to take the position. 

"He had just settled into private practice again, which is a transition, and to go back into the governmental section … I think it speaks volumes for his willingness to serve the state of Louisiana," Landry said. 

The office's former director of the criminal division, Brandon Fremin, was officially tapped in February to serve as the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Louisiana in the Baton Rouge area, leaving Landry with a gap. Landry said he looked for someone with experience working in, and with, district attorney's offices, as well as someone with like-minded prosecutorial discretion. 

"And that was easy in selecting Pat," the attorney general said.

The division — for which Magee will be the first black director — oversees the federally-funded Medicaid fraud unit, as well high-profile criminal cases, including the alleged corruption by Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa.

That criminal division has also been reviewing since May the 2016 fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, during an altercation with two white Baton Rouge police officers. 

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to charge officers Howie Lake II and Blane Salamoni with federal civil rights violations in the shooting. So the case, instead, landed at the Attorney General's office for any possible state charges. 

Law enforcement officials on Friday said they were preparing for the announcement about potential state criminal charges from the Attorney General. However, both Landry and Magee declined to comment on the status of their criminal review of the case.

"We are moving as effectively and efficiently as we can," Landry said. "I'm not going to be rushed to judgment on such a very important topic."

Magee added that he never discussed any cases with Landry prior to taking the job. 

'I always wanted to be a lawyer'

Magee grew up in Scott, where he said he remembered first being inspired by lawyers on TV, including Johnnie Cochran, one of the criminal defense lawyers in the O.J. Simpson case. 

Magee began his undergraduate degree at Southern University, but after "having too much fun," he returned to the Lafayette area, joining the National Guard and completing his degree at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. 

Years later, he returned to Southern University, enrolling at its law school as a 30-year-old and finally acting on his dream to practice law, despite not being particularly interested in studying, he said. 

"I always had that yearning, I always wanted to be a lawyer," Magee said. 

And because he was older than the majority of his classmates, he became a mentor for many, including Alejandro "Al" Perkins, now the chairman of the board for the University of Louisiana System. 

"(Magee) is the first African-American person to serve this position in the Attorney General's office, which is huge," Perkins said. "(Other students) will see him and want to follow in those steps."

During law school, Magee was a student employee at the 15th Judicial District Court in Lafayette, where he would later work his way up to assistant district attorney prosecuting felonies. He most recently worked as an attorney at the Voorhies & Labbé law firm in Lafayette and currently serves as a member of the Southern University Board of Supervisors. 

"He's definitely a people person. … He has a great sense of what makes people tick," said Lamont Domingue, managing partner at Voorhies & Labbé. "Pat was never the kind of person who was going to be a 'yes man.' (He will be) a team player, but he's also going to voice his independent (opinion)."

And while Magee said he's found his true passion in prosecuting, his time not devoted to the Attorney General's Office is spent with his four children, ages 3 to 13, and his wife, Robin, also a lawyer. He loves coaching and playing sports with his kids, and cooking gumbo or barbecue.

"When I think of Pat, I think of a person who has a big smile; he's always interacting with people," Daniel Landry, the first assistant at 15th Judicial District, who worked with Magee for many years. "I envision him engaging with people and trying to do the right thing."

Editors note: This story was updated March 20, 2018 to correct the spelling of Alejandro "Al" Perkins' name. 

Follow Grace Toohey on Twitter, @grace_2e.