Senior Management

April Leon Johnson
First Assistant United States Attorney

April Leon Johnson is the First Assistant United States Attorney.  In this role, she serves as the senior legal and policy advisor to the U.S. Attorney on all criminal, civil, national security, and administrative matters.

Mrs. Johnson has served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana where she was assigned to the Special Matters Division.  She also served as the criminal civil rights coordinator and human trafficking coordinator for the Middle District.  Previously, she clerked for the Honorable Benjamin Jones and Honorable Carl Van Sharp of Louisiana’s 4th Judicial District Court before joining the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney in 2009.  During her tenure at the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office, Mrs. Johnson earned an administrative position as Section Chief of Section IV Trials and has the distinction of being the first African American woman in the Parish to obtain such status. 

Since joining the Department of Justice in April of 2022, Mrs. Johnson has had the distinction of representing the Middle District at the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conference and served on the United States District Court’s Merit Selection Panel to consider the reappointment of United States Magistrate Judge Erin Wilder-Doomes.  She annually participates as a member of the host committee for the District’s African American Heritage Celebration.  She participated in piloting “United Against Hate” outreach programs across the district in a nationwide effort by the Department of Justice to combat hate crimes and encourage discussion between representatives of law enforcement, community organizations, and members of the public.

Mrs. Johnson obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Howard University in 2004 where she studied Communications and Rhetoric.  She then obtained her Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center.  During her law school tenure, she was selected by the faculty as a member of the moot court and mock trial competition teams. Mrs. Johnson externed as a law student at East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office as a Special Assistant Rule XX Prosecutor and tried her first case as a prosecutor before graduating.

Mrs. Johnson’s accolades include an appointment by Governor John Bel Edwards to the Louisiana Women's Incarceration Task Force as well as a Writing Fellow for Southern University Law Center where she assists recent graduates with preparation and passage of the Louisiana State Bar Examination.  Her involvement in the legal community consists of mentoring with Louisiana State Bar Association’s “Transition Into Practice” Program, and memberships in the National Black Prosecutors Association, Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, Federal Bar Association, and Louisiana State Bar Association.  She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Ellison C. Travis
Executive Counsel to the United States Attorney

Ellison C. Travis is the Executive Counsel to the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana.  Prior to his service as Executive Counsel, Mr. Travis served as the First Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Louisiana from 2018-2024 and was appointed and sworn in as the Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana from March 2021 to December 2021. 

Previously, Mr. Travis was with the Louisiana Department of Justice for over twenty years.  During his tenure with the Louisiana Department of Justice, he served as the Director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Criminal Division (2017-2018), as an Assistant Attorney General in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (2002–2017), and as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division (1997–2002).  Mr. Travis also served as an Assistant District Attorney (1990–1996).  During his thirty years in public service, he has prosecuted all manner of criminal matters, including violent crimes, financial crimes, and public corruption.  Mr. Travis helped author and pass legislation to penalize those who commit electronic abuse of persons with infirmities and those who commit public program fraud.  He also represented the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the state Legislative Task Force on Medicaid Fraud Prevention.

Mr. Travis received his Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Louisiana State University.

Jamie A. Flowers Jr.
Chief, Criminal Division

Jamie A. Flowers Jr. was appointed as Chief of the Criminal Division in January 2022. As Criminal Chief, Mr. Flowers supervises all investigations and prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office (“USAO”) across a wide range of practice areas, which include fraud and financial crimes, cybercrime, public corruption, child exploitation, and narcotics and firearms offenses. Prior to his appointment as Chief, Mr. Flowers served as Deputy Chief for two years.

Chief Flowers began his tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney (“AUSA”) in the Middle District of Louisiana in 2014. During his time as an AUSA he managed a diverse and challenging caseload including drug trafficking, human trafficking, child exploitation, and affirmative civil enforcement. As an AUSA, he led multiple OCDETF investigations resulting in the disruption and dismantlement of some of the most dangerous violent-crime organizations in and around Baton Rouge. Chief Flowers also served as the District’s Human Trafficking Task Force Coordinator where he worked to create a broad, community-based effort to combat human trafficking. In this role, he received a commendation from former FBI Director Jim Comey for his efforts in coordinating the investigation and prosecution of one of the largest FBI-led commercial sex trafficking investigations in Louisiana. Additionally, Chief Flowers serves as the District’s Re-entry and Prevention Coordinator. In this role he led the office’s efforts in partnering with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana to establish the District’s first re-entry program, Rehabilitating Individuals through Strategic Encounters (“RISE”) Court, which has been up and running since 2016 under the leadership of Chief Judge Shelly Dick and Magistrate Judge Erin Wilder-Doomes.

Prior to working in his role as a federal prosecutor, Chief Flowers worked as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security representing FEMA in legal actions related to Hurricane Katrina Public Assistance disaster relief funding. Before joining FEMA, he served in the United States Army as officer in the Judge Advocate General’s (“JAG”) Corps, where he achieved the rank of Captain.

Chief Flowers attended Hampton University on a four-year AROTC scholarship and graduated, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, he attended Mercer University School of Law and was admitted to the practice of law in 2009.

Some of Chief Flowers’s community involvement includes serving as an Executive Board member of the Baton Rouge Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, chair of several committees of the Baton Rouge Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association Region III Mock Trial Coordinator, and member of the Wex Malone American Inns of Court.

For his years of federal service, his high standards of professional achievement, his outstanding legal ability, and his significant contributions to the legal community and the Baton Rouge community as a whole, Chief Flowers received the Federal Bar Association’s 2021 Younger Federal Lawyer Award.

Chase E. Zachary
Chief, Civil Division

Chase E. Zachary is the Chief of the Civil Division and oversees all civil litigation handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.  Among other areas, that work includes affirmative civil enforcement, civil rights, asset forfeiture, employment discrimination, defensive common law and constitutional tort litigation, health care fraud, drug diversion, financial litigation, administrative law, and social security litigation.    

Mr. Zachary joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2018, originally working as the office’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) Coordinator.  In that role, Mr. Zachary litigated cases under the False Claims Act and recovered nearly $18 million in damages and penalties on behalf of the federal government. 

Mr. Zachary received his J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law, where he was also inducted into the Order of the Coif.  He previously served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable David B. Sentelle on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Zachary worked in private practice in the New York office of WilmerHale and in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller LLP.

Mr. Zachary holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University and is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  He also serves as the Ethics Advisor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.