John G. Koeltl

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John George Koeltl (born 1945) is a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

Koeltl studied history at Georgetown University and then obtain his law degree from Harvard University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating from law school Koeltl served as a law clerk for Judge Edward Weinfeld of the Southern District of New York and then for Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Koeltl then worked briefly in the office of the Watergate special prosecutor before entering private law practice in New York. For several years, Koeltl was a partner at the New York law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton. During these years, Koeltl served on several committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and American Bar Association and was the author of several published articles on securities law and other topics.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton named Koeltl a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of New York, a position he still holds today.

Judge Koeltl is best known for his decision in October 2006 involves a highly publicized case leading to his decision to sentence civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart to 28 months in prison for assisting one of her clients in violating prison rules, instead of the 30 years requested by the prosecution.