A letter from federal prosecutors filed in a number of state court cases on Tuesday appears to confirm that a federal investigation linked to the Karen Read case has concluded.

The Aug. 5 letter is authored by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ferguson and represents the first publicly released communication from the federal government since state prosecutors announced the close of the federal investigation.

Ferguson, writing to First Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Lisa Beatty, says her office’s investigation “pertained to the circumstances underlying the Read matter.”

Federal prosecutors have never publicly confirmed the investigation’s existence, and it’s not clear who, if anyone, was the target of the investigation. But Ferguson’s letter, and other correspondence between

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