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Karen Read case: Federal grand juror charged with leaking information appears in court
Jessica M. Leslie was released on personal recognizance, with orders to report to U.S. probation and participate in a mental health treatment program.
A Dracut woman who purportedly served on the Karen Read federal grand jury made her first appearance in a Boston courtroom Tuesday after she was accused of leaking confidential information.
Jessica M. Leslie, 34, remained quiet throughout the brief hearing and mostly stared straight ahead, offering only a muted “good morning” to Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley.
Federal prosecutors allege Leslie disclosed confidential grand jury information to unspecified “unauthorized individuals” between Aug. 11, 2022, and March 4, 2024. She’s accused of leaking the names of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury, the substance of their testimony, and other evidence that was under seal.
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Leslie has agreed to plead guilty to one count of criminal contempt, and a plea agreement filed in federal court recommends she be sentenced to “one day, deemed served,” 24 months of supervised release, no fine, and a $100 special assessment. She did not enter a plea Tuesday, and a date has yet to be set for her plea hearing.
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Leslie’s defense attorney, Keith Halpern, declined to comment as he left the courthouse Tuesday. Kelley released Leslie on personal recognizance, with orders to report to U.S. probation and participate in a mental health treatment program.
“Should the defendant ever require inpatient mental health treatment or urgent psychiatric treatment, she must advise her supervising officer of her location within 24 hours of intake into any facility and sign a release of information to permit the officer to confirm this,” the conditions of release state.
Details of the allegations against Leslie remain scant, even after Tuesday’s hearing. Federal grand jurors consider multiple cases over the course of their service, which typically lasts up to 18 months. In Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, jurors generally meet in secret for a full day each week to hear evidence of crimes that violate U.S. law.
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Prosecutors have not publicly specified the grand jury proceedings in which Leslie was involved, though The Boston Globe reported two people “familiar with the allegations” confirmed Leslie was accused of leaking information in connection with Read’s case. ABC News, also citing unnamed sources, separately confirmed Leslie was a federal grand juror in the Read matter.
Read, 45, was acquitted last month of murder and manslaughter charges in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors alleged Read drunkenly backed her SUV into O’Keefe and left him for dead, but Read’s lawyers argued she was framed in a law enforcement conspiracy. Following a 2024 mistrial and a retrial this spring, Read was convicted only of operating under the influence. She received a year of probation.
In an unusual turn of events, federal prosecutors began investigating the state’s handling of the murder case before Read’s charges were even resolved. Multiple witnesses in the case were called before a federal grand jury in 2023, though the probe remained shrouded in mystery as federal authorities declined to comment publicly on its scope or target.
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The federal investigation officially ended earlier this year with no charges or arrests announced.
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