Dexter Lehtinen

Dexter Lehtinen
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
In office June 1988 – January 1992
Preceded by	Leon Kellner
Succeeded by	James McAdams (Acting), Roberto Martinez
Member of the Florida Senate from the 40th district
In office January 3, 1987 – June 11, 1988
Preceded by	Roberta F. Fox
Succeeded by	Javier Souto
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 118th district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by	Charlie Hall
Succeeded by	Bob Starks
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 116th district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	Gene Flinn
Succeeded by	Art Simon
Personal details
Born	Dexter Wayne Lehtinen (1946-03-23) March 23, 1946 Homestead, Florida[1]
Political party	Republican Party (1985-Present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic Party (1980-1985)
Spouse(s)	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Children	Katharine, Douglas, Rodrigo, and Patricia
Alma mater	University of Miami, Columbia University, and Stanford Law School
Profession	attorney, politician

Dexter Wayne Lehtinen (born March 23, 1946) is an American attorney of Finnish ancestry, former politician, interim U.S. Attorney for south Florida and a law professor. He is the husband of U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Early life and education

Lehtinen is of Finnish ancestry. He graduated from the University of Miami in 1968 magna cum laude with a BA. He then graduated with an MA from Columbia University and an MBA in 1974. In 1975, he graduated first in his class from Stanford Law School. He was the Commander of the Corps of Cadets a member of the Iron Arrow Honor Society and president of the Florida Federation of College Young Republicans. He received a Purple Heart in 1971 for severe facial injuries during the Vietnam War.^[1][2]

Florida legislature

Dexter Lehtinen, Celia Cruz, Alonso R. del Portillo, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, and Pedro Knight in May 1992

In 1980, Lehtinen ran for the Miami-based-116th District of the Florida House of Representatives. In the Democratic primary, he qualified for the run off with 44% of the vote in a three candidate race.^[3] In the September primary runoff he defeated incumbent State Representative Gene Flinn.^[3] In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee Chris Ferrer with 51% of the vote.^[4] In 1982, he won re-election, in the newly redrawn 118th district with 65%.^[5] In 1984, he won re-election unopposed.

In February 1985, he left the Democratic Party to become a Republican. This was only a few months before he married Republican State Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Lehtinen and his wife were both elected in 1986 to the Florida Senate, He was elected in District 40 and she was elected in District 34.^[1][6]

U.S. Attorney for South Florida

In June 1988, he resigned his Florida Senate seat after Attorney General of the United States Edwin Meese took a "high-risk gamble"^[7] in naming Lehtinen to succeed Leon Kellner as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]} His three biggest cases during his 3 ½ year tenure were the cases of former Panama leader Manuel Noriega,^[14][15][16] religious sect leader Yahweh Ben Yahweh,^[17] and of Hialeah Mayor Raul L. Martinez.^[18]

The U.S. Senate refused to act on his nomination and Lehtinen on January 13, 1992, called a news conference to announce his resignation.^[19] Lehtinen said his departure had nothing to do with a well- publicized internal Justice Department investigation of him because of the Martinez case.^{[20][21][22][23][24]} The Justice Department opened a case against Mr. Lehtinen on charges of "misconduct" and potential conflicts of interest for investigating "a potential political rival of his wife."^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

Post U.S. Attorney career

Lehtinen served as the general counsel for the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida Indians^[30] until May 2010.^[31] In November 2011, the same tribe filed a lawsuit against Lehtinen for alleged malpractice regarding tax advice.^[32] He also was a professor at University of Miami School of Law and at Florida International University.

Personal life

He married Florida State Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, on June 9, 1984, while they were both serving in the Florida House of Representatives. They have two children, Rodrigo Lehtinen and Patricia Marie. He was previously married to Donna L. Stevenson and had two children with her, Katharine Natasha and Douglas Hooper^[1]

References