USA v. Thomas et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 	)
)
v. 	) 	Case No. 3:25-cr-219
)
[1] ANDREA THOMAS 	)
[2] CORY THOMAS 	) 	JUDGE TRAUGER
[3] CHRISTIAN SMITH 	)
[4] NANCY GATES 	)
AGREED PROTECTIVE ORDER FOR MATERIALS CONTAINING INFORMATION
ABOUT MINOR VICTIM OR ADULT WITNESSES
This matter, having come to the Court’s attention on the Motion for Entry of a Protective
Order for Materials Containing Information About Minor Victim or Adult Witnesses submitted by
the United States of America and Defendants Andrea Thomas, Cory Thomas, Christian Smith, and
Nancy Gates, and the Court, having considered the motion, and being fully advised in this matter,
hereby enters the following PROTECTIVE ORDER:
1. 	This Protective Order governs the discovery material in any format (written or
electronic) that is produced by the government in discovery in the above captioned
case. The discovery and evidence in this case includes, but is not limited, to the Minor
Victim’s or potential witnesses’ sensitive personal identifying information, including
their first and/or last name, social security number, date of birth, address, driver’s
license, phone number, and email address, and electronic messages, documents, and
other sources of information that contain such personal identifying information. For the
purpose of this Protective Order, the materials produced by the government in
discovery are collectively referred to as “Protected Material.” This Protective Order,
Case 3:25-cr-00219 Document 44 Filed 10/28/25 Page 1 of 5 PageID #: <pageID>

however, does not cover any statements of the Defendants or their own words as quoted
or summarized by the Minor Victim or witnesses or anyone else.
2. 	The United States will make available a copy of the “Protected Material” to defense
counsel to comply with the government’s discovery obligations. Possession of copies
of these Protected Materials is limited to the attorneys of record, investigators,
paralegals, law clerks, experts, encrypted cloud storage services of the attorneys of
record, and assistants for the attorneys of record (hereinafter collectively referred to as
members of the defense team).
3. 	The attorney of record and members of the defense team may display and review these
discovery materials with the Defendants. 	The defense team shall ensure that the
Defendants are never left alone with any “Protected Material.” The attorney of record
and members of the defense team acknowledge that providing copies of these discovery
materials to the Defendants and other persons (including the Defendants’ family
members) is prohibited and agree not to duplicate or provide copies of these discovery
materials to the Defendants and other persons.
4. 	Any notes or records of any kind that the defense team makes relating to the “Protected
Material” (e.g., hand-written notes or emails with Minor Victim’s or potential
witnesses’ full names, social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, driver’s
licenses, or medical or mental health information) shall be treated as subject to the
Protective Order and not be disclosed to anyone other than persons on the defense team,
or the Defendants while in the presence of their defense counsel.
5. 	Prior to showing any “Protected Material” to any authorized person listed above (e.g.,
investigators and expert witnesses), defense counsel shall provide a copy of this
Case 3:25-cr-00219 Document 44 Filed 10/28/25 Page 2 of 5 PageID #: <pageID>

Protective Order and ensure that it is followed. Defense counsel further agrees to advise
the authorized person that at the conclusion of this case, the material must be returned
to defense counsel. All authorized persons receiving material subject to the Protective
Order shall be subject to this Protective Order and shall not further disclose the material
except as permitted by its terms. Before first disclosing discovery material or its
contents to any of the individuals or entities listed above, the defendant or his attorneys
of record must give to the individual or entity a copy of this Protective Order and
maintain a copy signed and dated by the individual or a representative of the entity until
such time as all appeals in this matter, if any, are concluded.
6. 	Some documents in discovery contain a combination of Protected Material and non-
protected material. The parties agree that it is permissible to publicly file non-sensitive
material such as dates, IP addresses, and non-sensitive written information, but any and
all Protected Material listed above must be fully redacted from public view. 	More
specifically, any document containing personal identifying information may only be
publicly filed if the Protected Material is fully redacted.
7. 	Any violation of any term or condition of this Order may result in contempt of court,
and/or monetary or other sanctions deemed appropriate by this Court.
8. 	Nothing in this order should be construed as imposing any discovery obligations on the
government that are different from those imposed by case law and/or Rule 16 of the
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Local Criminal Rules.
9. 	Any successor defense counsel assigned in this case shall be subject to this Protective
Order.
Case 3:25-cr-00219 Document 44 Filed 10/28/25 Page 3 of 5 PageID #: <pageID>

10. Should the parties disagree about whether material constitutes Protected Material, they
must initially meet and confer to resolve the dispute if possible. If after meeting and
conferring, the parties disagree about whether material constitutes Protected Material,
then they may notify the Court and seek a judicial determination. Similarly, if defense
counsel seeks to show Protected Material to a potential witness or someone outside the
defense team (other than the Defendants in the presence of their counsel), the parties
must initially meet and confer to resolve the dispute if possible, prior to seeking a
judicial determination. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to prevent defense counsel
from showing a potential witness otherwise Protected Material that relates directly to
their testimony, such as, but not limited to, a report memorializing their own statement.
11. Within 60 days following the resolution of this case (meaning, the later of dismissal,
sentencing, conclusion of any post-conviction motion such as appeal or motion
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, or any earlier resolution of the charge against the
Defendants), all Protected Material shall be returned to the United States without
further order of Court, or destroyed by defense counsel, unless the Court or the United
States gives specific written permission for an exception to this requirement.
_____________________________________________
THE HONORABLE ALETA A. TRAUGER
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Case 3:25-cr-00219 Document 44 Filed 10/28/25 Page 4 of 5 PageID #: <pageID>

CERTIFICATION
By signing below, I, ____________________________ (please print legibly), hereby certify
that I have read this Order and agree to be bound by its terms.
____________________ 	________________________________
Date 	DEFENDANT
Case 3:25-cr-00219 Document 44 Filed 10/28/25 Page 5 of 5 PageID #: <pageID>