United States v. Hugh Keith and Steven Wolis
No. 96-5204-CRIM-ZLOCH (S.D. Fla. 1996)
Matter at a glance
- Year
- 1996
- Agency
- United States Attorney's Office
- Forum
- Criminal prosecution
- Mr. Lehrer's role
- Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
- Docket / file
- No. 96-5204-CRIM-ZLOCH (S.D. Fla. 1996)
What the matter involved
Securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, insider trading, money laundering, perjury, and obstruction of justice.
The matter was brought by the United States Attorney's Office and heard as a criminal prosecution. Mr. Lehrer worked the file as a special assistant u.s. attorney, which meant building the record on the government's side — the documents, the testimony, and the theory of the violation — rather than responding to it.
- Insider trading. Insider trading matters are built from trading records, phone logs, and the timing of material events, then matched against who had access to the information.
- Money laundering. Once proceeds move through accounts to disguise their source, prosecutors add laundering counts that carry their own penalties.
- Obstruction. Conduct during the investigation — destroyed documents, false testimony — regularly becomes a separate and more serious charge than the original violation.
Outcome and public record
This matter was resolved on the public record of the United States Attorney's Office under No. 96-5204-CRIM-ZLOCH (S.D. Fla. 1996). Out of respect for the individuals and entities named, this page does not restate penalties, bars, or sentences. The agency's own release for the matter is the authoritative record of its disposition.
Search the agency's public enforcement records →
Past results in government enforcement matters do not predict or guarantee the result of any future matter. This page describes work performed on behalf of a government agency before Mr. Lehrer entered private practice in 2000.
Why this matters to issuers today
The staff still builds files the same way: start with the public document, test it against the company's own records, and interview the people who signed. Knowing how that record gets assembled is the reason issuers bring this experience in at the drafting stage — before a filing, an offering, or a promotion creates the paper trail a later investigation would follow.
Questions about a filing, an offering, or a promotion?
Talk directly to a former SEC enforcement attorney — no intake staff, no forms.