U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber dies after announcing illness this year

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, a Joliet resident who served in the Illinois Legislature before being nominated to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, has died at the age of 87, according to his family.

Leinenweber, who just celebrated a birthday last week, had maintained a very active schedule before announcing an illness earlier this year, presiding over the high-profile trials of singer R. Kelly and presiding over the “ComEd Four” political corruption case last year.

In January, Leinenweber postponed sentencing in the ComEd Four case in part because of his health problems, which he said would keep him out of Chicago for a month or two.

He is survived by his wife, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin, who confirmed her husbands went to the Tribune, and seven children.

Known for his calm temperament and friendly demeanor, Leinenweber was respected by attorneys on both sides as an attentive lawyer with an impeccable knowledge of the law.

He was born in Joliet on June 3, 1937, graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1959 and received his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1962.

Leinenweber formed his own private practice in his hometown and served as a city councilman for several area cities until he was elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1973.

Two years after returning to law in 1983, Leinenweber was preparing to make a deposition when he received word from his secretary that the President of the United States had called and asked to see him.

“I called the president of the United States directly,” Leinenweber told his son, Justin, for an article in the Illinois State Bar Association in 2014. “President Reagan said, ‘Harry, I was about to sign a commission in which you would be appointed as federal. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, but I thought I better ask your permission first. Have I got it?’ And I stumbled and said, ‘Yes, you do.’

Leinenweber was appointed district judge in December 1985. During his nearly 40 years on the court, Leinenweber oversaw many of the city’s most important trials, from political corruption to terrorism and gang cases involving Gangster Disciples boss Larry Hoover.

In 2013, Leinenweber sentenced David Coleman Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, and a possible attack on a newspaper in Denmark.

Last year, Leinenweber sentenced Kelly to 20 years in prison for his child pornography conviction in connection with videotaped sexual abuse of underage girls.

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