BOSTON (Court TV) — A woman who served as a grand juror in Karen Read‘s case has been charged with leaking sensitive information and has agreed to plead guilty, according to reports.
Karen Read listens to the testimony of expert Daniel Wolfe, when he returns to the stand in her murder retrial in Norfolk Superior Court, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced that a criminal contempt charge was filed against Jessica Leslie. The charging document alleges that Leslie disclosed sealed information between Aug. 11, 2022, and March 4, 2024, to unauthorized individuals. The information Leslie is accused of sharing included the names of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury, the substance of witness testimony and other evidence presented.
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Read stood trial twice on charges that she murdered her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Her first trial ended with a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury, while the second saw Read acquitted of nearly all charges.
While details about the grand jury on which Leslie served were not made publicly available, sources close to the investigation told The Boston Globe that it was the Karen Read case.
In 2024, before either of Read’s two trials began, her attorneys had argued the grand jury presentation in her case was “packed with known lies” and “deceptions.”
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Prosecutors say Leslie has agreed to plead guilty to the charges. The sentence for criminal contempt ranges from prison to five years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000. A plea agreement reviewed by Court TV shows Leslie agreed to incarceration for one day, deemed served, 24 months of supervised release and a special assessment of $100.
