CHICAGO — Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, the Chicago Democrat who became the leading architect of congressional tax policy in the Reagan era but later went to federal prison for corruption, died Wednesday, a family friend said. He was 82.

Rostenkowski, who served 18 terms before losing in 1994, died at his home in Lake Benedict, Wis., friend Ellen Tully said. He had been treated for prostate cancer in the 1990s.

As House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rostenkowski was credited with leading a 1983 effort to rescue Social Security from insolvency and pushing through a sweeping 1986 overhaul of the nation's tax system.

In 2000 then-President Bill Clinton pardoned Rostenkowski.

Rostenkowski's problems began in 1992 when a grand jury in Washington charged him with 17 counts of misusing government and campaign funds.

In the end, Rostenkowski pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud. He admitted he had converted office funds to his own use for gifts such as Lenox china and armchairs.

He admitted hiring people on his congressional payroll who did little or no official work.

Rostenkowski served 17 months in prison.

By The Associated Press