TULSA, Okla., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- John Volz, the former federal prosecutor in New Orleans, died this weekend in Tulsa, Okla., at the age of 74, his family said.
Volz, who battled a lengthy illness, was once the U.S attorney in New Orleans and prosecuted the likes of former Gov. Edwin Edwards and top mobster Carlos Marcello.
"As U.S. attorney there was only one trail he followed -- the trail of evidence," U.S. District Judge Lance Africk told the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. "He was a fearless advocate for the community and fearless when it came to public corruption cases."
Volz began his career in the office of District Attorney Jim Garrison and was appointed U.S. attorney by President Carter in 1978. He remained in the post through 1990 and worked as an administrative law judge in Tulsa until the end of 2010.
Volz led the prosecution of a bevy of Louisiana and New Orleans politicians in a string of corruption cases. His highest-profile case were the 1980s racketeering indictment of then-Gov. Edwards, and the conviction of Marcello in the so-called Brilab case, which was overturned on appeal.
