Trailblazing Judge Donna Congeni Fitzsimmons has retired from over 40 years of a professional life dedicated to fighting crime and improving her community through judicial service and civic involvement. As judge of the Rocky River, Ohio Municipal Court, which encompasses five western municipalities in the Greater Cleveland area, Judge Fitzsimmons has sought to bring an understanding of the justice system to local schools and launched numerous educational programs over the years to enhance young people’s civic knowledge and understanding of the rule of law. 

In her early years of practice, though, she gained local and national prominence as a fierce federal prosecutor who led the Northern Ohio Organized Crime Strike force in the early 1980s. Her prosecution of organized crime figure Angelo Lonardo in 1983 led to her work being memorialized in a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of Organized Crime in Las Vegas. Accolades from the U.S. Department of Justice resulting from her trial victories opened doors for her that eventually led to appointment as Deputy Counsel of the President’s Commission on Organized Crime under President Ronald Reagan from 1983-85. 

Judge Fitzsimmons’ early days of prosecuting organized crime figures were groundbreaking for women. She was the only woman on her team when she prosecuted the case against Lonardo. Being either the only woman, or one of a