Unopposed MOTION for Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials filed by USA as… — Blueacorn (Dkt. 11)

Summary

The government's Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials in United States v. Nathan Reis and Stephanie Hockridge, No. 4:24-CR-287-O, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, filed November 25, 2024 as Document 11 under Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. It proposes that all discovery be treated as Confidential Information, used only to defend the case, shared only with listed Designated Persons, and returned or destroyed at the end of the matter. The motion states that an indictment returned November 14, 2024 charges one count of conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1349 and four counts of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 relating to Paycheck Protection Program loan applications. It says the initial production exceeds one million documents and that counsel for both defendants do not oppose it.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 1 of 7      PageID 27



                             UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                              NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
                                 FORT WORTH DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.                                                      No. 4:24-CR-287-O

NATHAN REIS (01)
STEPHANIE HOCKRIDGE (02)
a/k/a STEPHANIE REIS

               UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER
             GOVERNING DISCLOSURE OF DISCOVERY MATERIALS

        Pursuant to Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the government

files this Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery

Materials to protect individually identifiable information, financial information, and other

confidential information; protect ongoing criminal investigations; maintain the integrity

of the judicial process; and to promote timely resolution of this case. Specifically, the

government proposes the following:

        1.      That any discovery materials (or copies thereof) provided by the

government to the defense—including any defendants that may be charged later, and

regardless of when such materials were produced—in this case pursuant to Rule 16 of the

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; 18 U.S.C. § 3500; Brady v. Maryland and its

progeny; or United States v. Giglio and its progeny be considered “Confidential

Information.”

        2.      That Confidential Information disclosed to a defendant or defense

counsel in this case during the course of proceedings in this action:



Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 1
 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 2 of 7      PageID 28



             a. Shall be used by the defendant and defense counsel only for purposes of
                defending this criminal action;

             b. Shall not be disclosed in any form by the defendant or defense counsel
                except as set forth in paragraph 2(c) below; and

             c. May be disclosed by the defendant or defense counsel in this action only to
                the following persons (“Designated Persons”):

                    i. investigative, secretarial, clerical, paralegal and student personnel
                       employed full-time or part-time by the defendant’s attorney;

                   ii. witnesses, potential witnesses, or an attorney for a witness or
                       potential witness, so long as any person shown Confidential
                       Information must be informed that the information is protected by a
                       Court order that prohibits disclosure of the Confidential
                       Information to any person other than representatives of the defense
                       or the government in this case;

                  iii. independent expert witnesses, investigators, or expert advisors
                       retained—pursuant to a written retainer agreement—in connection
                       with this action; and

                   iv. such other persons as hereafter may be authorized by agreement, in
                       writing, of the parties or by the Court upon the defendant’s motion.

        3.      That Confidential Information disclosed to a defendant or defense

counsel during the course of proceedings in this action, including any and all copies made

of said material, shall, at the conclusion of this matter, either be returned to the

Government or shredded and destroyed. This matter will be concluded upon expiration of

the period for direct appeal from any verdict in the above-captioned case, the period of

direct appeal from any order dismissing any of the charges in the above-captioned case,

or the granting of any motion made on behalf of the Government dismissing any charges

in the above-captioned case, whichever date is latest.




Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 2
 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 3 of 7      PageID 29



        4.      That a defendant and defense counsel shall provide a copy of this Order to

Designated Persons to whom they disclose Confidential Information pursuant to

paragraphs 2(c)(i), (ii) and (iii). Designated Persons shall be subject to the terms of this

Order and shall sign an acknowledgment, to be retained by the defendant’s counsel,

indicating that they have received and reviewed the terms of this Order and understand

that they are bound by it before being provided with, shown, or read the contents of any

materials produced pursuant to terms of this Order.

        5.      That a defendant and defense counsel will not attach any materials

produced pursuant to this Order to any public filings with the Court or publicly disclose

any such materials, or their contents in any other manner, without prior notice to the

Government. If the defense and the Government cannot agree on the manner in which the

documents or their contents may be publicly disclosed, the parties shall seek resolution of

such disagreements by the Court.

        6.      That if any dispute should arise between the parties to this action as to

whether any documents, materials or other information is Confidential Information

subject to the provisions of this Order, such documents, materials and information shall

be considered Confidential Information pending further Order of this Court.

        7.      That the provisions of this Order shall not be construed as preventing the

disclosure of any information in any motion, hearing or trial held in this action or to any

District Judge or Magistrate Judge of this Court for purposes of this action. Nor shall the

provisions of this Order be construed as preventing disclosure of any information in the




Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 3
 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 4 of 7      PageID 30



public domain or information obtained independently from the sources described in

Paragraph 1.

I.      Background

        On November 14, 2024, a Fort Worth grand jury returned an indictment charging

Reis and Hockridge with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18

U.S.C. § 1349 (18 U.S.C. § 1343), and four counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18

U.S.C. § 1343. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired and schemed to

defraud the Small Business Administration by submitting and causing to be submitted

materially false applications for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program.

        On November 21, 2024, Reis was arrested and had his initial appearance in the

District of Puerto Rico. On the same date, Hockridge was served with a summons

requiring her to appear before the Court in the Fort Worth Division of the Northern

District of Texas on November 25, 2024. Reis was ordered to appear on the same day

before the same Northern District of Texas Court.

        Due to the nature of the offense, the discovery in the government’s possession

includes large amounts of confidential information, including personal loan information,

bank information, and content from email search warrant returns.

II.     Authority for a Protective Order

        This Court possesses the express authority to enter protective orders to handle all

matters of a private or sensitive nature. Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(d) (discovery protective

orders); 49.1(e) (protective orders concerning matters of privacy and personal

information). Specifically, Rule 16(d)(1) permits courts to enter protective orders that


Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 4
 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 5 of 7      PageID 31



deny, restrict, or defer discovery or inspection, or grant other appropriate relief for good

cause. Id. Indeed, “[a] trial court can and should, where appropriate, place a defendant

and his counsel under enforceable orders against unwarranted disclosure of the

[surveillance] materials which they may be entitled to inspect.” Alderman v. United

States, 394 U.S. 165, 185 (1969).

        The government has consulted with counsel for Reis and Hockridge, neither of

whom oppose this motion.

III.    Discovery is Voluminous and Contains Protected Information

        Discovery in this case is voluminous. In the government’s initial production, there

are over one million documents (not including potentially privileged materials). The

government also has recently obtained an extraction of a cell phone from a cooperating

defendant, which it anticipates producing shortly. This voluminous discovery is replete

with personal identifying information and other confidential information. The

government has obtained communications, bank account, and other information of

coconspirators, including coconspirators not named in the indictment, through a variety

of means, including grand jury subpoenas, search warrants, and voluntary disclosures

from witnesses, subjects, and coconspirators.

        Searching through and redacting one million documents is overly burdensome and

impracticable. Thus, to facilitate the timely resolution of the case, the government intends

to go beyond its discovery obligations by making a significant amount of the discovery

available unredacted through a secure electronic file exchange and/or encrypted defense-

provided external media, if it can be assured that the materials in this case will be


Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 5
 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 6 of 7      PageID 32



adequately protected. The exchange/encrypted media will enable defense attorneys to

securely access the discovery and allow them to make hard copies of the discovery if they

so choose. Accordingly, to safely and timely facilitate the discovery in this case and to

protect the integrity of the ongoing criminal investigation, the government seeks the

proposed protective order.

IV.     Conclusion

        The government respectfully requests that the Court enter a protective order

limiting the disclosure of discovery materials in this case as described above for all

defendants, including any additional defendants who may be added later. The

government believes these proposed restrictions constitute the least restrictive measures

available to protect the various interests involved in this case, including the defendants’

interest in full and efficient discovery and a speedy resolution of this case. The

compelling interests of protecting personal identifying information and bank account

information by preventing disclosure of this information to third parties constitutes good

cause to enter the requested protective order.

                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                                LEIGHA SIMONTON
                                                UNITED STATES ATTORNEY


                                                s/ Matthew Weybrecht
                                                MATTHEW WEYBRECHT
                                                Assistant United States Attorney
                                                State Bar of Texas No. 24102642
                                                Telephone: 817-252-5200
                                                Fax: 817-252-5455
                                                matthew.weybrecht@usdoj.gov


Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 6
 Case 4:24-cr-00287-O          Document 11         Filed 11/25/24        Page 7 of 7      PageID 33



                              CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

       I hereby certify that on November 25, 2024, counsel for the government consulted
with counsel for Reis and counsel for Hockridge both have advised they are unopposed to
the motion.


                                                s/ Matthew Weybrecht
                                                MATTHEW WEYBRECHT
                                                Assistant United States Attorney



                                  CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

       I hereby certify that on November 25, 2024, I electronically filed the foregoing
document with the clerk for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, using the
electronic case filing system of the court. The electronic case filing system sent a “Notice
of Electronic Filing” to the attorney(s) of record who have consented in writing to accept
this Notice as service of this document by electronic means.


                                                s/ Matthew Weybrecht
                                                MATTHEW WEYBRECHT
                                                Assistant United States Attorney




Unopposed Motion for a Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Discovery Materials – Page 7


File and source

File

gov.uscourts.txnd.396981.11.0.pdf

Size

181,503 bytes

SHA-256

ca968cff4bb4d15e7193100895aedfecfa32d5bc1751d0de2aed20e7dfbdd53c

Our copy

gov.uscourts.txnd.396981.11.0.pdf

Original

archive.org