EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge in southern Illinois says he’s retiring by the end of this year.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that 63-year-old U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy has told President Barack Obama in writing that he’ll step down on Dec. 1.

Murphy was appointed to the federal bench in 1997 by then-President Bill Clinton, filling a vacancy left by William Beatty, who retired.

Murphy is a Vietnam veteran who worked his way through law school by mopping a truck stop’s floors, moving furniture and driving a truck.

He tells the newspaper he intends to return to private practice in Marion.

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