NATION : Lead Poindexter Prosecutor Named

WASHINGTON — Dan Webb, a Chicago lawyer and former U.S. attorney, was named today to be the lead prosecution counsel in the Iran-Contra trial of former national security adviser John M. Poindexter.

Independent prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh announced the appointment of Webb, 43, who is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn, where he specializes in commercial litigation and white collar crime defense.

From 1981 to 1985 he was a U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois and oversaw a corruption investigation of the Cook County judicial system. Walsh’s office said Webb also was involved in prosecuting the Tylenol extortion case in 1983 and in the case of 10 Chicago police officers who were convicted in 1982 of taking payoffs from heroin dealers.