Profiles · Judges
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Lawyer or judge
- Programs
- PPP, Other programs
- Updated
The profile
U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas; presided over United States v. Reis and Hockridge (No. 4:24-cr-287-O) and granted emergency relief in Greer's Ranch Cafe v. Guzman.
Identity and role
Reed O'Connor is a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas. In the Blueacorn company profile he appears as the judge for United States v. Reis & Hockridge, No. 4:24-cr-287-O.
Biography
O'Connor is a Northern District of Texas federal judge; his appointment history is cited to no source we have a copy of (no FJC or court page is linked). He appears repeatedly in pandemic-related litigation: restaurant-relief priority litigation, military/public-health mandate litigation, and the Blueacorn founder criminal case.
Pandemic relief role
Two pandemic-relief matters came before him:
- In Greer's Ranch Cafe v. Guzman, O'Connor granted emergency relief against SBA's race/sex priority process for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (Restaurant Dive report; case README). The RRF was a $28.6 billion grant program administered by SBA for pandemic-related restaurant revenue loss, separate from PPP.
- The Reis/Hockridge prosecution is the core Blueacorn criminal case: two company founders were convicted in a PPP fraud conspiracy, and the post-trial asset-recovery record includes trusts into which the founders had moved funds.
The Blueacorn company profile records the 2026 garnishment ruling on the Reis and Hockridge trusts and DOJ's announced recovery (DOJ N.D. Tex. release cited there).
Legal status / government-program record
No personal pandemic-relief company, lobbying, or loan role was found for O'Connor.
Where they are now
O'Connor remains a federal district judge in the Northern District of Texas.
Stephanie Hockridge and Nathan Reis were the defendants in the criminal case before O'Connor. Richard Finneran of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner was Hockridge's lead trial counsel. The parallel Blueacorn plea by James Flores was handled before Judge Terry R. Means in the same district. The RRF priority case arose from SBA's administration under Isabella Casillas Guzman.
Sources held in this archive
Original source documents and archived captures
- Profile: Blueacorn
- greer-ranch-v-sba
- DOJ, Hockridge sentencing release
- DOJ, Hockridge conviction release
- Restaurant Dive, RRF priority injunction coverage
- SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund program page
Sources
- Blueacorn company profile, criminal-case section: Profile: Blueacorn
- DOJ N.D. Tex. Blueacorn trust-recovery announcement referenced in company profile: Profile: Blueacorn
- CourtListener docket, United States v. Reis, No. 4:24-cr-00287: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69366012/united-states-v-reis/
- DOJ, Hockridge conviction release: DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Blueacorn conviction press release June 23, 2025 (original: justice.gov · stored capture)
- DOJ, Hockridge sentencing release: DOJ Office of Public Affairs, Hockridge sentencing press release Nov. 21, 2025 (original: justice.gov · stored capture)
- DOJ N.D. Tex., Nevada trusts ordered to return approximately $30 million: Nevada Trusts Ordered to Return Approximately $30 Million Transferred by Convicted Fraudsters (original: justice.gov · stored capture)
- Greer's Ranch Cafe case overview: README
- Restaurant Dive, RRF priority injunction coverage: Restaurant Dive, RRF priority injunction coverage (original: restaurantdive.com · stored capture)
- SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund program page: SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund program page (original: sba.gov)
- Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, O'Connor, Reed Charles