The Hon. John S. Leonardo (Ret.) served as a judge for the Pima County Superior Court in Arizona. Leonardo was appointed to the bench by former Governor Fife Symington in 1993. He retired on March 1, 2012, at which time he was nominated by former President Barack Obama to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona.
Leonardo earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Notre Dame in 1969. He then completed a J.D. at George Washington University Law School in 1972.
After graduating from law school, Leonardo became an Assistant United States Attorney. He started in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana. Then, in 1982, he transferred to the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. He served in that capacity until 1993.
Leonard was raised in Des Moines, Iowa. His father worked as a postal clerk, and his mother was a secretary in the financial aid department of Drake University. He attended Dowling Catholic High School, spending his summers caddying and mowing grass at a cemetery as well as working as a parts inspector for John Deere.
He is registered as a Democrat.