Oct. 27--A former veteran federal prosecutor who was part of the team that won the conviction of former Gov. George Ryan will become the top assistant to U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon.
Joel Levin, who has been in private practice since leaving the U.S. attorney's office in 2008, rejoined the office Monday and will assume the first assistant's post when Gary Shapiro steps down next week. Shapiro, 68, is retiring Nov. 3 after more than four decades as a federal prosecutor, including a 16-month stint as U.S. attorney before Fardon took office a year ago.
Levin, 60, brings 28 years of experience as a federal prosecutor in Chicago, San Francisco and Milwaukee to the post. He teamed with Fardon and others in the prosecution of Ryan, who was sentenced to 61/2 years in prison for corruption and ended up serving more than five years in prison and another five months of home confinement in Kankakee.
As first assistant, Levin plays a major role in supervising investigations and prosecutions as well as managing the office's 162 prosecutors in Chicago and Rockford.
For the past six years, Levin has been a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie in Chicago.
