GREENVILLE, Miss. – U.S. District Court Judge W. Allen Pepper Jr., confirmed to the bench in 1999, has died.
Pepper died at St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson on Tuesday after a heart attack. He was 70 years old.
A spokeswoman for the Northern District of Mississippi's federal court confirmed Pepper's death. Chief Judge Michael P. Mills, in a statement, said the district has lost a judge of "impeccable character."
Pepper, of Cleveland, was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1999. He held court in Greenville.
His survivors include his wife, Virginia, and a son, William A. Pepper III.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
