Stephanie Finley was selected by President Barack Obama in January of 2010, recommended by Senator Mary Landrieu and confirmed by the United States Senate in June of 2010, to serve as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. Ms. Finley is the first woman in the State of Louisiana appointed to serve as a U.S. Attorney.
She is the chief law enforcement officer for 42 of the 64 parishes in the state, charged with the prosecution of criminal cases brought by the Federal Government and the prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is a party.
In her 18 plus years with the Department of Justice, Ms. Finley has prosecuted cases involving white collar crimes, violent crimes, civil rights, environmental crimes, drug trafficking, public corruption and tax evasion. Ms. Finley previously served as a member of Attorney General Eric Holder’s Advisory Committee from 2011-2013, and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee’s Office of Management and Budget Committee.
In addition to her duties as the United States Attorney, Ms. Finley is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force. As a Judge Advocate in the Air Force, her duties include serving as a hearing officer for criminal cases and administrative discharge boards, working in the areas of contract and labor law and military justice as well as providing legal assistance services for active duty, reservists and dependants of the military. Prior to being assigned to Barksdale AFB, Ms. Finley served four years on active duty at England Air Force Base, Louisiana and Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
Ms. Finley is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Grambling State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and was selected as one of the nation’s Distinguished Graduates of the Reserve Officer Training Corps. She is a Cum Laude graduate of Southern University Law Center where she received her Juris Doctorate in 1991 and was the Editor in Chief of the Law Review.
Ms. Finley has been recognized for her longstanding dedication and commitment to the community. She previously served as the Criminal Bar Examiner and an Assistant Bar Examiner for the Louisiana Bar, is a frequent youth conference lecturer on the local and state level, and has been honored as a “Top 20 Under 40” recipient, one of Lafayette’s “Women Who Means Business,” a “Person of Excellence” recipient from the National Association of University Women, a Torchbearers’ Award recipient, a Southern University Law Center Hall of Fame inductee, a recipient of Grambling State University’s Beacon Award for Public Service, a Public Service Award recipient at Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Regional Conference, and various other Achievement Awards.