Joe Hartzler always relished the big-time cases. As one of Chicago's hottest federal prosecutors in the 1980s, he put away Puerto Ri-can terrorists and corrupt public officials, winning over juries with his Boy Scout's demeanor and first-rate legal mind. In 1989, as Hartzler parlayed his success into a job with a prestigious private firm, he visited a doctor about the strange weakness in his legs. The diagnosis was multiple sclerosis, the neurological disease that would eventually rob him of his ability to walk. Hartzler took stock and realized that he missed government service and wanted more time with his family. In 1991 he returned to the U.S. Attorney's Office, in slower-paced Springfield, Ill., where he could nail bad guys and still coach his son's Little League team.
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