Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Sensitive Information — United States v. Metelus (Dkt. 13, S.D. Fla.)

Summary

A Protective Order Governing Disclosure of Sensitive Information, Document 13 entered on the docket February 12, 2026 in United States v. Roody Metelus, No. 0:26-cr-60019-RKA, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The order states that the Government moved to regulate disclosure of sensitive information to defense counsel, and it grants that motion. It directs the Government to mark the portion of the discovery that includes sensitive information as "Confidential", requires defense counsel to hold that portion in strict confidence and to obtain a certification from each person who receives it, and it limits the Defendant's possession of the Confidential materials without defense counsel present. It is dated February 11, 2026 for United States District Judge Roy K. Altman.

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

Record facts

Full text

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 
 
CASE NO. 26-cr-60019-ALTMAN 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
                  
 
 
  
 
 
v.  
                    
ROODY METELUS, 
 
Defendant. 
__________________________________/ 
 
PROTECTIVE ORDER GOVERNING DISCLOSURE OF  
SENSITIVE INFORMATION 
The Government has filed a motion for a protective order [ECF No. 11] (“Motion”). In the 
Motion, the Government asks the Court to regulate the disclosure to defense counsel of sensitive 
information, including personal identifying information. Ibid. Having found good cause, the Court 
hereby ORDERS and ADJUDGES as follows: 
(1) The Motion [ECF No. 11] is GRANTED. 
(2) The Government shall disclose to the Defendant sensitive information in its possession as it 
deems necessary to comply with its discovery obligations. 
(3) The Government shall mark the portion of the discovery that includes sensitive information 
as “Confidential.” 
(4) Defense counsel shall hold the Confidential portion of discovery in strict confidence. Defense 
counsel shall restrict access to this discovery and shall disclose this discovery to the Defendant, 
to office staff, to investigators, and to anticipated fact or expert witnesses only to the extent 
that defense counsel believes is necessary to assist in the defense of this case and in a manner 
that will prohibit the disclosure of this discovery to others not involved in the defense. 
Case 0:26-cr-60019-RKA   Document 13   Entered on FLSD Docket 02/12/2026   Page 1 of 2

2 
(5) Defense counsel shall advise any person to whom the Confidential portion of the discovery is 
disclosed that such information shall be held in strict confidence and that further disclosure 
or dissemination without defense counsel’s express written consent is prohibited. 
(6) Defense counsel shall obtain a certification from each person to whom the Confidential 
portion of the discovery is disclosed, in which the recipients must (a) acknowledge the 
restrictions set forth in this Order and (b) agree that they will not disclose or disseminate the 
information without defense counsel’s express written consent. Defense counsel shall keep a 
copy of each certification to identify the individuals who received the Confidential portion of 
the discovery and the date on which that information was first disclosed. 
(7) The defendant shall not maintain the Confidential discovery materials without defense counsel 
present in order to prevent the purposeful or unintentional dissemination of discovery. The 
defendant may review discovery materials without defense counsel present only after defense 
counsel provides the defendant with properly redacted copies of requested document(s). 
(8) Defense counsel agrees that, when this case is over, 1  it will destroy (or return to the 
Government) the Confidential discovery it received. 
(9) Counsel for the United States and for the Defendant shall promptly report any known 
violations of the Court’s order to the Court. 
 
DONE AND ORDERED in the Southern District of Florida on February 11, 2026. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
______________________________________ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ROY K. ALTMAN 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
 
cc: Counsel of Record  
 
1 The case will be considered over at the conclusion of any appellate and § 2255 proceedings or, if the 
Defendant doesn’t appeal or file a habeas petition, when the period for appealing or filing a habeas 
petition has expired. 
Case 0:26-cr-60019-RKA   Document 13   Entered on FLSD Docket 02/12/2026   Page 2 of 2

File and source

File

gov.uscourts.flsd.705759.13.0.pdf

Size

128,091 bytes

SHA-256

f4843e7ac2f6ac466d9927e9439189641372a99118746b4b53a0d26c2f98f00c

Our copy

gov.uscourts.flsd.705759.13.0.pdf

Original

PACER (login required)