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Leigha Simonton

Oversight and enforcement

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Type
Person
Role
Oversight and enforcement
Programs
PPP
Updated

The profile

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas during the Blueacorn prosecution; later in private practice.

Identity and role

Leigha Simonton served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas (Dykema announcement and profile; the years are not in the captures) — the district that, with the DOJ Fraud Section and MLARS, prosecuted United States v. Reis & Hockridge (the Blueacorn founders).

Biography / career arc

Career AUSA in N.D. Tex. (appellate chief) → U.S. Attorney → Dykema Gossett (2025), private practice (Dykema announcement and profile).

Pandemic-relief / PPP-EIDL role

Her office was one of the prosecuting components in United States v. Reis & Hockridge, the case against Nathan Reis and Stephanie Hockridge, the Blueacorn co-founders.

DOJ's conviction and sentencing releases describe the underlying PPP fraud scheme and credit Fraud Section and MLARS trial attorneys and an N.D. Tex. AUSA on the prosecuting team.

Simonton left the U.S. Attorney role in early 2025 and joined Dykema's Dallas office, focusing on government and internal investigations, corporate compliance, white-collar crime, and complex legal issues. This is a public U.S.-Attorney-to-private-investigations move, not a lobbying registration or company-side PPP role.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

At Dykema (firm announcement of Feb. 5, 2025 and profile captures).

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources

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