Previously, Mr. Franklin was the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on June 15, 2017, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 14, 2017. During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, as well as the following Attorney General sub-committees: Veterans Affairs, Indian Country, and Child Exploitation. On February 26, 2019, Mr. Franklin was the featured speaker in the Great Hall of Justice for the U.S. Department of Justice’s African American History Observance Program.

Mr. Franklin earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Pre-Law from Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City, Alabama; a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; a Master of Science Degree in Justice and Public Safety from Auburn University at Montgomery; and a Juris Doctor Degree from the Howard University School of Law in Washington D.C.

Mr. Franklin began his legal career in 1987 as a staff attorney with the Legal Services Corporation of Alabama in Selma, Alabama. In February 1990, he was sworn in as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Middle District of Alabama and assigned to the Criminal Division. In 1991, Mr. Franklin became the lead attorney for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1996 and entered private practice. Two years later, in March 1998, Mr. Franklin returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Attorney appointed him as Chief of the Criminal Division in September 2001, where he remained until he was sworn in as the United States Attorney.

During his tenure as a non-supervisory AUSA, Mr. Franklin was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He also received numerous awards from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Postal Service, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, and the Montgomery Police Department. These awards reflected Mr. Franklin’s outstanding work as the prosecutor who successfully prosecuted the agencies’ cases. As a supervisor, he received the Director’s Award for Superior Performance in a Managerial or Supervisory Role from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice. In March 2018, Mr. Franklin was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers, a select group whose membership is restricted to no more than 1% of the active lawyers in any given state.

Mr. Franklin has served on the Court Advisory Committee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel.