John Ries Bartels

Who was John Ries Bartels?

John Ries Bartels was a United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Bartels was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from the Baltimore City College. He was in the United States Army in 1918. He received an A.B. from Johns Hopkins University in 1920 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1923. He was in private practice of law in New York City from 1925 to 1959. He was also a member of the New York State Law Review Commission from 1945 to 1950 and from 1952 to 1957. He was also a Justice of the State of New York Supreme Court for Kings County from 1950 to 1951.

Bartels was nominated to the District Court by Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 20, 1959, to a seat vacated by Robert A. Inch. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 28, 1959, and received his commission on July 30, 1959. He assumed senior status on December 31, 1973 and heard cases until his death in Brooklyn, New York in 1997. Among his high-profile cases was the 1989 trial and conviction of Gene Gotti, brother of reputed mafioso John Gotti. He was also the trial judge in the Zvonko Bušić case.