| Leech of Franklin WAMCO
Pleads Guilty after Charged with
Cherry Picking & Kastigar Memo
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
June 12 – Then-US Attorney for
the Southern District of New
York Damian Williams announced
an indictment "charging S.
KENNETH LEECH II, the former
Chief Investment Officer of
Franklin's Western Asset
Management Company with
securities fraud, investment
adviser fraud, commodity
trading adviser fraud,
commodities fraud, and making
false statements." Franklin
bought WAMCO along with Legg
Mason; it has not been
working. On
December 16, Leech and his
four lawyers appeared for the
first time before SDNY
District Judge Gregory H.
Woods. Inner City Press was
there, thread. On June 12, Leech
pled guilty "to obstructing
justice by giving false and
misleading testimony to the
SEC in connection with
an investigation into LEECH’s
fraudulent scheme to favor
certain clients at the expense
of others." Sentencing was set
for September 21. Back on May 15
the defense wrote in that
discovery is not complete,
with 40-45,000 documents sued
by the end of July. The
defense will resist setting a
motion schedule or trial date
until September. But on May 19,
with Inner City Press in the
courtroom, Judge Woods set
trial for April 6, 2026, with
a further scheduling letter
due next week. Inner City Press
was back in the courtroom on
November 7. The docket
summarized: " The Court heard
argument from both the defense
and the Government on the
defense motion pending at Dkt.
No. 34, in which the defense
is seeking .. a bill of
particulars." Leech had a huge
team of lawyers arguing to
know which of his many trades
the Government will present at
trial. On February 25,
the trial was pushed back:
"Defense requested that the
jury trial date be moved to
accommodate for defense's
ability to prepare for trial.
After proposing a few new
dates, the Court granted the
request and set a new trial
date. The jury trial in this
case is adjourned to June 15,
2026." On March 31,
"ORDER as to S. Kenneth Leech,
II: The Court has scheduled an
evidentiary hearing pursuant
to Kastigar v. United States,
406 U.S. 441 (1972) to take
place on April 8, 2026. Dkt.
No. 105. On March 30, 2026,
the Government, represented by
attorneys who are not part of
the prosecution team, made an
in camera request to file a
pre-hearing memorandum of law
under seal because the
submission "contains
discussions of, and attaches
as exhibits, documents
defendant S. Kenneth Leech II
has claimed are privileged."
The request to file the
entirety of the memorandum
under seal is denied. The
Court orders the parties to
meet and confer to come to an
agreement on proposed
redactions. The Government
must file its memorandum and
any associated exhibits on the
public docket of this case
with the parties' agreed-upon
redactions no later than April
6, 2026. SO ORDERED. (Signed
by Judge Gregory H. Woods on
3/31/2026)." Inner City Press
will continue on the case. The case is USA v. Leech, 1:24-cr-658 (Woods)
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