[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13937-S13938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RETIREMENT OF U.S. ATTORNEY JAMES TUCKER

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, one of the best and most respected 
attorneys to have ever served in our State as an assistant U.S. 
Attorney is retiring. James Tucker has served the U.S. Department of 
Justice in the Southern District of Mississippi for 30 years.
  I have an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for the way 
James Tucker has carried out the important responsibilities of his job. 
He

[[Page S13938]]

was a true professional in every respect. He was completely honest and 
trustworthy, and he was tenacious in bringing to justice those who 
violated the laws of the United States.
  I commend him for a job well done and wish him much continued success 
and satisfaction in the years ahead.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Clarion Ledger of 
December 17, highlighting his illustrious career be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  Top Corruption Fighter Leaving Post

                          (By Jerry Mitchell)

       Mississippi's top corruption fighter over the past 30 
     years--Assistant U.S. Attorney James Tucker--is leaving the 
     U.S. attorney's office to go into private practice.
       ``If you could combine honor, integrity, courage and 
     expertise in the same person, what you'd have is James 
     Tucker,'' Attorney General Mike Moore said ``they don't make 
     'em that way anymore. He is the ultimate professional.''
       Jan. 3 will mark Tucker's last day of work at the U.S. 
     attorney's office, where he has worked since 1971. After 
     that, he'll join the Butler Snow law firm in Jackson, where 
     he'll be part of the litigation division.
       Tucker said he is sad to be leaving on one hand but is 
     enthused about his new job. ``After 30 years with the 
     Department of Justice, it hurts a little to cut the string, 
     but I'm looking forward to a challenging new career.''
       A no-nonsense retired Naval Reserve officer, Tucker has 
     shunned the limelight, despite taking on very public 
     prosecutions of Mississippi public officials, including 
     Operation Pretense, which led to convictions of 43 county 
     supervisors and 11 vendors on corruption charges.
       His long list of those prosecuted has included members of 
     the Mississippi Senate, the Highway Commission, the Public 
     Service Commission and the Jackson City Council.
       His work also helped put former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat 
     behind bars on federal charges in connection with the 1987 
     killing of Halat's former law partner, Vincent Sherry and his 
     wife, Margaret.
       ``I've always had strong feelings about public officials 
     violating the trust,'' Tucker said. ``I always felt if I had 
     the power to right those kinds of wrongs, I ought to do it.''
       In 1983 and 1998, the Provine High School graduate received 
     the highest award an assistant U.S. attorney can receive from 
     the Justice Department--the Superior Performance Award.
       ``That's one of my great honors,'' Tucker said, ``winning 
     that award twice.''
       Perhaps better than an award was the comment he said he 
     received the other day from a current county supervisor: ``He 
     said, `You don't realize it, but what y'all did in Pretense 
     has helped us honest supervisors for years and years and will 
     for years to come. Because of that, we can threaten people 
     with another Pretense if they fool around (with corruption).' 
     ''
       Moore credited Tucker with cleaning up corruption in 
     Mississippi: ``He's helped return integrity to public 
     office.''
       Tucker's expertise has helped pave the way for many other 
     lawyers, including Moore, who first go to know Tucker when as 
     a district attorney in Pascagoula he pursued corruption cases 
     against local supervisors.
       ``He really helped me through those tough times, and he's 
     continued to be my friend,'' Moore said. ``He was a mentor to 
     me.''
       Defense lawyer John Colette of Jackson said what makes 
     Tucker special is his ability to remain calm, even amidst a 
     storm, such as during the 1990 trial of Newton Alfred Winn, 
     convicted in connection with the disappearance of Jackson 
     socialite Annie Laurie Hearin.
       But that calmness belies a quiet ruthlessness, he said.
       As someone has remarked, Colette said, Tucker is the kind 
     of prosecutor who slits the throat of a defense lawyer, who 
     doesn't realize it until his head is in his lap.
       Now that Tucker's gone, he joked, ``I'm going to start 
     trying all my cases in federal court.''
       What may say the most about Tucker is that he has the 
     admiration of not only the defense bar, but judges as well, 
     Colette said.
       ``He's probably the most competent prosecutor I ever 
     heard,'' said U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. 
     ``The district was lucky to have him for so many years.''
       Even as Mississippi has changed U.S. attorneys in the 
     Southern District, Tucker has remained as the chief of the 
     criminal division.
       Former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott said he relied on Tucker 
     during his tenure.
       ``He's an ideal public servant,'' Pigott said. ``He's 
     personally modest and quiet. I've spent some time with him in 
     the foxhole, I can vouch for his integrity in every way. He 
     deserves a very wonderful reputation.''
       Defense lawyers say Tucker helped provide continuity to the 
     sometimes revolving door of the U.S. attorney's office, 
     serving once as interim U.S. attorney.
       ``Many people, including me, felt that with him there, 
     there was somebody to talk to who would listen,'' said 
     defense lawyer Tom Royals of Jackson.
       ``It's a real loss to our justice system to see James 
     Tucker leave,'' said defense lawyer Dennis Sweet of Jackson. 
     ``He's a tremendous lawyer, and he's been tremendously fair. 
     I just hope whoever replaces him does as good a job for the 
     U.S. attorney's office as he has.''
       Current U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton said he is certainly 
     going to miss Tucker. ``He's an institution,'' Lampton said. 
     ``He knows more off the top of his head than you can find out 
     doing research in books.''
       Because of Tucker, Lampton said he never worried about the 
     criminal side of his office.
       Now he'll have to find a replacement, which he'll probably 
     choose from within his office, he said. ``We'll all have to 
     work together to take up the slack.''
       Those outside legal circles also praise Tucker.
       ``There was a time when James Tucker was the only defense 
     standing between us and total corruption in Mississippi,'' 
     said veteran journalist Bill Minor, who wrote about Tucker in 
     his new book, Eyes on Mississippi: A Fifty-Year Chronicle of 
     Change. ``In my estimation, he ranks among the true heroes 
     that I've known over my 54-year career.''
       Former Public Safety Commissioner and FBI agent Jim Ingram 
     said Tucker will be sorely missed by all of Mississippi. 
     ``Almost all of us can be replaced. He can't.''

                          ____________________