Leigha Amy Simonton[1] is an American lawyer and former career federal prosecutor who served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas from 2022 to 2025.
[3] She also prosecuted cases at the trial-court level and provided extensive appellate advisory support to numerous trial teams throughout the district.
[3][8] Later, she led her office in overturning a three-judge panel decision in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that had suppressed key evidence in a child exploitation case.
[3][2] On October 14, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Simonton to be the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
[19][14] Other notable cases included charges against 14 individuals in the largest case investigated by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force at the time of its indictment for allegedly bilking the Paycheck Protection Program and numerous financial institutions out of more than $53 million,[20][14] charges against a Texas Christian University divinity professor for possessing child pornography,[21][14] the sentencing of a retired Cook Children's Hospital Chaplain for producing child pornography,[22][14] the sentencing of a would-be bomber who idolized the Columbine High school shooters,[23][14] and the sentencing of another man who set off a bomb in his backyard and plotted to blow up a high school.
[24][14] During her tenure, Simonton also oversaw the prosecution of 11 drug traffickers charged in the wake of the juvenile fentanyl overdose scandal, which claimed the lives of four Carrollton-area middle and high schoolers and injured 10 more.
[25][14] In the wake of these tragedies, Simonton launched the "Protect Our Children Project," aimed at bringing federal resources to bear on issues affecting schools, including fentanyl use.
[26][14] She hosted a series of webinars for hundreds of North Texas school administrators that covered the dangers of fentanyl, how to respond to an overdose, and how to discourage teens from using the drug.
"[29] The operation, which included a partnership with CrimeStoppers, raised public awareness of the dangers of switches, generated multiple tips, and resulted in numerous ongoing prosecutions.
[35][14] Meanwhile, under her leadership, the Appellate Division persuaded the Fifth Circuit to affirm the life sentence of a Michigan man who stalked, transported, and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl,[36][14] convinced the Fifth Circuit that a retrial in a city-council bribery case would not violate double jeopardy,[37][14] and successfully defended against 19 issues on appeal arising from the Forest Park Medical Center kickback case.
[41] She supported the Solicitor General's efforts seeking certiorari of the Fifth Circuit's decision invalidating Rahimi's conviction for using a firearm while under a domestic violence protection order.
[48][14] Simonton further attempted to stem the tide of defendants who make their way into the federal system, revitalizing and expanding the district's Project Safe Neighborhood Re-Entry Night program, which educates individuals on state parole and probation about avoiding behaviors, like drug trafficking and gun possession, that could end up in federal prosecution, and connects them with community resources—like therapy, addiction, and job placement programs—to live productive lives.