Meet JEB Allen
James “JEB” Allen was born in Mt. Pleasant and raised on his family’s Christmas tree farm in Weidman. He attended Weidman Elementary and graduated from Chippewa Hills High School. He then served in the Marines for five years, attended college and law school, and began practicing law in Isabella County. JEB and his wife Demi, a board-certified behavior analyst that specializes in autism therapy services, reside in Lake Isabella. JEB and Demi are excited to welcome their first child this May.
|
Military Service
During his senior year of high school, JEB answered the call to service and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2009. He completed boot camp in San Diego, CA and attended specialty training at the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center in Virginia Beach, VA, ranking fourth in his class. He then reported to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines in Twentynine Palms, CA where he served in an infantry company as an intelligence analyst for deployments to the Philippines, Japan, Australia, and was deployed to Musa Qala District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan from the summer of 2012 to the spring of 2013. JEB was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2013 and returned to Afghanistan that same fall where he served as an intelligence advisor and trainer. Upon his return to the states in the summer of 2014, he was honorably discharged from the Marines. JEB’s notable military awards include:
|
Education
After returning to Michigan, JEB enrolled at Central Michigan University and graduated in 2016 with a B.S. in international relations. He then enrolled at Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids, MI where he served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Phillip J. Green, a federal magistrate, handling primarily civil matters involving civil rights litigation and social security appeals. JEB went on to graduate first in his class, summa cum laude, in January of 2019. He then immediately returned home and was hired by the Isabella County Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecutor shortly thereafter. |
Professional Experience
During his time as a prosecutor, JEB has served as Assistant Prosecutor and Senior Assistant Prosecutor and has handled thousands of criminal cases in the circuit and district courts, which have included misdemeanor jury trials and felony jury trials involving violent crime and the delivery of controlled substances. JEB has also tried many cases involving the termination of parental rights in abuse and neglect cases. Moreover, for several years he handled civil actions for the prosecutor’s office involving paternity establishment and child support. Furthermore, he has experience as a special prosecutor in criminal cases in Clare and Midland counties. Since 2021, JEB has handled exclusively felony cases and has been the lead prosecutor in charge of representing the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in abuse and neglect cases. In addition to trial experience, JEB has handled numerous cases successfully before the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court, as well as other appellate matters in the circuit court. Some cases of note are: - People v. Stuer (In 2019, the defendant was convicted of stealing over three million dollars from Bandit Industries and was sentenced four years above the sentencing guideline range by Judge Duthie–a very exceptional sentence. The defendant challenged the legality of her sentence on appeal, but two of the three judges on the panel agreed with JEB, and the defendant’s sentence was affirmed). - People v. Bigford (The defendant was tried three times for First-Degree Murder in 2016, with the first two trials ending in mistrials. The defendant was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but then filed several complex motions seeking to have her conviction overturned in the circuit court and the litigation lasted nearly three years. JEB worked tirelessly and ethically as the sole prosecutor assigned to the case and the conviction was upheld). |
Community Engagement
JEB has been a board member for the MidMichigan College Foundation since 2021, serving on the Grants Committee. The Grants Committee provides additional community-based resources to advance the mission of the college and provide emergency assistance to local students in need. JEB has also been a board member of the Isabella County Bar Association since 2020, and has served as Vice President of the Association since 2023. He is also a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars–Post 3033, Mt. Pleasant. |