Jay Lucas Changed Lawyer in SDNY After New Hampshire Arrest Now SEC Sues Him

Jay Lucas Changed Lawyer in SDNY After New Hampshire Arrest Now SEC Sues Him by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 24  –   With both copies of the Federal indictment still sealed on PACER, on December 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Inner City Press when to the arraignment of Jay Lucas and live tweeted, here OK - now at arraignment of Jay Lucas, former candidate for New Hampshire governor, private equity investor and owner of defunct Eagle-Times newspaper  Defense counsel: Mr Lucas is not CJA eligible but I will represent his interests today. Judge: You are charged in four counts. How do you plead? Lucas: Not guilty  AUSA: We have extracted his cellphones. We are in the process of notifying victims. Judge: Discovery by January 19. Defense: Conference in 60 days? Judge: February 18 at noon  AUSA: He is out on $1 million bond. A no-contact with LBE persons with exceptions. Judge: So ordered. Three weeks instead of two for signatures due to the holidays  Adjourned Note: After Inner City Press' article (and tweets) noting the continued sealing of the indictment, it was belatedly unsealed. On February 18, 2026 Lucas was back in court, and Inner City Press was there: All rise! Judge Rochon: Mr. Lucas, do you wish to change counsel? Lucas: Yes, Your Honor. [It's done] AUSA: We are giving discovery, to the new lawyer. We'd like a conference in May. There were no search warrants or post arrest statements, so no motions it seems  New defense counsel: I have no problem with a motion date a few months out. We may not be filing those substantive motions. We can discuss potential resolution of the case. Judge: Or trial. Let's next meet on May 19 at 10:30 am. On April 24, the SEC sued Jay Lucas and Lucas Brand Equity LLC civilly in SDNY. The civil case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lucas, et al., 1:26-cv-3408 (Unassigned) Watch this site. The criminal case is USA v. Lucas, 1:25-cr-581 (Rochon) *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com