SC woman gets probation after leaking federal grand jury information

Chris Trainor

A South Carolina woman who is a former federal grand juror got three years of probation after pleading guilty in a case where she leaked secret federal grand jury information related to a drug trafficking case.

Alicia Renee Coleman, 51, of Rock Hill, pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice last fall. On Friday, U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy announced Coleman had been sentenced for the crime. U.S. District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Coleman, who had no prior record, to three years of probation. The case was investigated by the FBI.

According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office release, in June 2018, Coleman, then a federal grand juror, leaked information about an an indictment and then-upcoming arrests in a case involving a Rock Hill and Charlotte area drug trafficking operation.

Coleman learned the information through her role as a federal grand juror, and told it to a family member. The leak made its way to the targets of the investigation, and law enforcement also learned of it. Law enforcement subsequently had to adjust its plans for arrests in the drug case. Coleman was removed from her grand jury post.

“The integrity of our grand jury process is vital to our mission of protecting the people of South Carolina and upholding the rule of law,” McCoy said in a statement. “As this case makes clear, if you violate the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, you will be prosecuted.”

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