Gerard T. “Gerry” Leone Jr. served as the

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex County is located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,632,002, making it the most populous county in both Massachusetts and New England and ...

from 2007 to 2013. He is currently a partner at the law firm,

Nixon Peabody Nixon Peabody LLP is a Global 100 Boston-based law firm with more than 700 attorneys collaborating across major practice areas in cities across the U.S. and in international offices in London, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. In addition to the firm's ...

Early life and education

Leone was born in

Franklin, Massachusetts The Town of Franklin is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Franklin is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipalities that have applied for, and been granted, city forms of government but wish to retain "The town of" in their o ...

and attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he was a member of the

Harvard Crimson football The Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Harvard's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun c ...

team from 1982–85, and the

Harvard Boxing Club The Harvard Boxing Club is a student organization at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. History Boxing has been a popular campus activity since the late 19th century. In the intramural tournament of 1879, future President Theodore Roo ...

. He attended

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two block ...

at night, graduating in 1989.

Legal career

Leone's first legal job was as an assistant district attorney in the Middlesex County District Attorney's office. He worked there for a little over a decade before taking a job as an Assistant United States Attorney in the

District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The first court session was hel ...

. His most notable case was the prosecution of

Richard Reid Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young ...

, better known as the "

Shoe Bomber Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young ...

". He was named the

FBI Director The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...

's Award and the Executive Office for the United States Attorneys’ Director’s Award. He served in the office from 2001 to 2005 and was eventually promoted to be the First Assistant United States Attorney. In 2006, Leone resigned from his federal prosecutor position in order to serve as the Middlesex County District Attorney. He was reelected for a second term in 2010. In April 2013, Leone resigned as Middlesex County District Attorney in order to become a partner at

(focusing on governmental investigations and white collar criminal defense).

Prosecution of Aisling Brady McCarthy

Leone was the District Attorney who in April 2013 initially charged Irish nanny Aisling Brady McCarthy with

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

in the death of a one-year-old girl, Rehma Sabir. Brady McCarthy spent 27 months in a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

prison, and a further 3 months in

House Arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

. On 1 September 2015 all charges against Brady McCarthy were dropped after Leone's successor as DA for Middlesex, Massachusetts Marian Ryan said: "Based on an assessment of the present state of the evidence, including the amended ruling from the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, the Commonwealth cannot meet its burden of proof."US murder charge dropped against Irish nanny
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Gerard Living people Massachusetts lawyers District attorneys in Middlesex County, Massachusetts American prosecutors Harvard University alumni Suffolk University Law School alumni 1960s births