FORT PIERCE — A former top federal prosecutor in Fort Pierce has been indicted on charges related to the alleged unauthorized transmission and concealment of Department of Justice records, including documents tied to a sealed criminal case.
Federal prosecutors said Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, 62, of Port St. Lucie, was indicted on two counts of theft of government money or property valued at less than $1,000, as well as charges of destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations and concealment, removal or mutilation of public records.
According to the indictment, Lineberger was serving as the Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Fort Pierce branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at the time of the alleged offenses.
Prosecutors allege that in separate incidents in late 2025, Lineberger altered electronic file names of government records she received in her official capacity in order to conceal unauthorized transmissions of those records to her personal email accounts.
The indictment alleges the records included a document compiled from internal Department of Justice electronic messages and an internal DOJ memorandum, as well as a DOJ report connected to a criminal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida that had been ordered sealed by the court and barred from disclosure outside the department.
According to prosecutors, Lineberger saved copies of the records under the file names “chocolate cake recipe” and “bundt cake recipe” before transmitting them electronically to her personal email accounts.
The indictment further alleges Lineberger knew sending the DOJ report outside the department violated a court order and impaired the administration of the underlying criminal prosecution.
Lineberger appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach for her arraignment before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge William Matthewman.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison on the destruction, alteration or falsification charge, up to three years for concealment, removal or mutilation of public records, and up to one year in prison on each theft count.
The case is being investigated jointly by the FBI and the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christie S. Utt of the Northern District of Florida was assigned as a special prosecutor in the case to avoid conflicts of interest.
An indictment is an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.