Harry D. Leinenweber, the legal giant from Joliet who served as a federal judge for nearly four decades — and presided over some of Chicago’s biggest trials of late — has died at age 87.
His widow, former U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Martin, was with him when he died just before 6 p.m. Tuesday in their Gold Coast home. The judge had been diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year.
He had been responding to treatment while he spent time at the couple’s home in Florida.
Last week, shortly before Judge Leinenweber’s 87th birthday, doctors told the couple the cancer had taken a deadly turn and the jurist may only have a short time to live. It turned out to be only a week, but enough time for the couple’s children from former marriages — and legion of grandchildren — to know the time was coming soon.
Nevertheless, Judge Leinenweber attended his 87th birthday party at the Union League Club last week with a big smile on his face. It was organized by his wife for their close and devoted friends.
“Harry is a great public servant who had begun honing his skill in the Illinois General Assembly,” said former U.S. District Judge Wayne Anderson, one of Judge Leinenweber’s best friends.
The interview took place last week, when it was obvious Judge Leinenweber had taken a turn for the worse.
“He is such a great guy, it almost masked how smart he is,” Anderson said. “He really cares about the public. He understands ordinary people and has great common sense.
“Underneath it all, he is a great intellectual.”
Chief Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer said in a statement late Tuesday, “Judge Harry D. Leinenweber was a friend, mentor, and model jurist. My colleagues and I are deeply saddened by Judge Leinenweber’s passing. We hope for comfort and peace for his family. We thank his family for sharing him with us for over 39 years.”
President Ronald Reagan nominated Judge Leinenweber, a former state lawmaker, to a seat in the Northern District of Illinois in 1985. He remained on the bench until his death. And 35 years after his nomination, once the COVID-19 pandemic forced judges into virtual hearings in 2020, photos of Reagan and former President George H.W. Bush could be seen on a wall behind him as he presided over a high-profile case.
Judge Leinenweber took senior status in 2002, but he still presided over blockbuster trials 20 years later. They included the trial of former R&B star R. Kelly in 2022, and a major Illinois corruption trial involving four political insiders tied to ComEd in 2023.
That corruption trial, involving former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and three others, sprang from the same investigation that snared indicted former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Judge Leinenweber put the ComEd case on hold earlier this year because of machinations at the U.S. Supreme Court, and his death could put the case further into limbo.
“He was a wonderful person, warm and funny, and a fine judge,” Scott Lassar, the former U.S. attorney who represented Pramaggiore in that trial, told the Sun-Times by email.
Attorney Patrick Cotter represents another defendant in that case, Michael McClain. Cotter wrote Tuesday that, “When I was before Judge Leinenweber, I always knew I was before a judge who worked very hard to be fair to everyone. And as good a judge as he was, he was an even finer human being. He was patient, kind, he had a sense of humor and he cared about the people who were in his courtroom.”
Robert Garnes served as a juror in that same trial. He remembered Tuesday that Leinenweber had “complete control of the courtroom. … He knew how to put his foot down, and then he knew how to let it up.”
“He was so cool and level-headed,” Garnes said. “He was the coolest judge I’ve ever seen, on TV or off TV.”
Kelly attorney Jennifer Bonjean wrote in an email that she “loved trying cases in front of [Leinenweber].”
“He allowed attorneys to do their jobs and never put his thumb on the scales of justice,” Bonjean said. “He was an honorable judge and an honorable man. The judiciary needs more judges like him. He will be missed by attorneys from all sides of the aisle.”
Judge Leinenweber’s history in Chicago’s federal court reaches much deeper than those recent cases. Also pending before him was a request for a sentencing break from Larry Hoover, the founder of the Gangster Disciples street gang who was also represented by Bonjean.
Judge Leinenweber sentenced Hoover to life in prison in a contentious hearing in 1998. Hoover told the judge his trial had been a “politically motivated farce.” But Judge Leinenweber pushed back against the man who ran a $100 million-a-year drug business while locked up inside Illinois’ prison system.
“You were able to do what you did in jail for 25 years — you’re amazing,” Judge Leinenweber told him. “You must be a very charismatic person. … You misused a gift you got from God.”
Years earlier, Judge Leinenweber sentenced Thomas J. Maloney, a former Cook County judge who had agreed to fix criminal cases. Maloney was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy and extortion stemming from three murder cases he heard.
Maloney denied it at sentencing and lashed out at his accusers, who he labeled “sleazy” and a “slime rat.”
Judge Leinenweber told him his words were “too little and too late.”
“Releasing dangerous criminals is atrocious,” Leinenweber said. “I personally agree 100% with [the] jury verdict.”
