Parole board grants Lionel Gross, denies Melvin Brown after split vote

The Louisiana Committee on Parole at DOC headquarters in Baton Rouge on Jan. 20, 2025, granted parole to Lionel Gross, who is serving an aggregate sentence that includes 40-year terms for armed robbery and kidnapping and an 82-year aggregate sentence, and denied parole for Melvin (Melville) Brown, a long-serving lifer, after a divided board failed to reach the unanimous vote required to parole him.

The committee granted parole to Lionel Gross, who was represented at the hearing and supported by the Louisiana Parole Project and multiple family members. Board members cited Gross’s participation in prison programming, steady work history in prison enterprises and an organized reentry plan offered by the Parole Project. The board imposed conditions: placement in the Parole Project on release for a minimum of two years, a 9 p.m.–6 a.m. curfew except for work, continued participation in drug treatment and the programs the Parole Project prescribes. The board recorded an approval and the panel announced that Gross would return to community supervision under those conditions.

Lionel Gross’s case record read into the hearing states adjudications in East Baton Rouge Parish (May 2001) for armed robbery and second-degree kidnapping (40-year sentences) and a Claiborne Parish conviction (Feb. 2003) for battery of a police officer (2 years) and escape (1 year). The panel noted his parole eligibility date of Aug. 22, 2025. Supporters who spoke by Zoom and in person included family members and representatives from the Louisiana Parole Project; attorney Richard Spear addressed the board on Gross’s behalf and Andrew Hundley and Megan Snediger of the Louisiana Parole Project described the program’s housing, transportation, employment and mental-health supports.

By contrast, the committee denied parole for Melvin Brown, a Vietnam veteran who has been incarcerated since the 1970s and whose eligibility was restored by Act 280 of the 2017 Louisiana Legislature. Brown’s supporters, including the Louisiana Parole Project and Brown’s attorney Micah Sloan, urged release on the grounds of Brown’s age, medical needs, program participation and a reentry plan that included Veterans Affairs services. A VA justice-outreach clinician described plans to connect Brown to PTSD-appropriate mental-health treatment if he were released. The assistant district attorney from the 29th Judicial District told the board he would take no position after hearing the presentations.

Board members split on Brown’s case. Several members said Brown’s advanced age, veteran status and documented programming weighed in favor of parole; others cited the gravity and deliberate nature of Brown’s offense, victim and law-enforcement opposition, and past disciplinary history when voting against release. Because Louisiana’s committee requires unanimity for certain parole decisions in these cases and the panel did not reach that standard, the motion to parole Brown failed. The chair explained that Brown may reapply in five years, at which point he would be approximately 81 years old.

Speakers and supporters for both cases included representatives of the Louisiana Parole Project, prison staff and several family members. For Brown, counsel and the Parole Project detailed his medical history, military service, participation in programming, and the VA’s planned involvement in reentry. The board asked detailed questions about the underlying offenses, intervening disciplinary reports, and Brown’s current health and treatment needs before voting.

The committee adjourned after the two hearings; the panel recorded the decisions and outlined conditions and follow-up steps for the case in which parole was approved. No new statutes or ordinances beyond the hearing record were cited by the board during public remarks, though counsel and advocates referenced Act 280 (2017) as the legislative provision that restored parole eligibility to long-serving lifers like Melvin Brown.

Votes at a glance: - Lionel Gross — granted parole; conditions: minimum two-year placement in the Parole Project on release, curfew 9 p.m.–6 a.m. (work exceptions), required continuation of drug treatment and program participation; panel decision announced as approved. - Melvin (Melville) Brown — parole denied after the board did not reach the unanimous vote required; supporters included the Louisiana Parole Project and the VA outreach worker, the assistant district attorney took no position; board members split on public-safety risk versus age/medical factors.

What’s next: For Gross, the parole project will coordinate placement and supervision under the conditions the board specified. For Brown, the board record notes he may reapply in five years and the Parole Project and counsel indicated continuing support and plans to pursue VA services if and when his eligibility is revisited.