Judge Harry Leinenweber, judge in “ComEd Four” case, dies at 87

CHICAGO — U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, who served as a judge in the Northern District of Illinois for nearly 40 years, died Tuesday night at the age of 87.

Leinenweber was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and appointed to the court in 1985, and assumed senior status in 2002. He also served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1973 until 1983.

Among the recent high-profile cases over which Leinenweber presided was R. Kelly’s federal criminal trial last year. Leinenweber sentenced the rapper to 20 years in prison for enticing minors into sexual activity.

Leinenweber also presided over the trial last year of four officials — Michael McClain, Anne Pramaggiore, Jay Doherty, and John Hooker — who were all convicted of in a conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Leinenweber was born in 1937 in Joliet. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1959, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1962.