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Prosecutor and Lawyer Charged with Attempted $6M Extortion via Indictment Misconduct

By Martha Neil

May 21, 2010, 6:58 pm CDT

A lawyer and a prosecutor in Alabama were reportedly arrested at a law office Wednesday as they were accepting a check for $1 million allegedly obtained in a civil case through a threat to pursue or withhold prosecution.

Coosa County Assistant District Attorney Frank Selman Teel, 59, and attorney Frank Wayne Bailey of Gadsden, 58, are also accused of having attempted to extort another $5 million, through a promise to withhold prosecution in a criminal case, according to the Birmingham News and the Gadsden Times.

Teel is charged with second-degree extortion; bribery or accepting a bribe; and intentional use of his assistant district attorney position for unlawful personal gain in violation of state ethics law.

Bailey is charged with second-degree extortion; bribery or accepting a bribe; and aiding and abetting Teel in the intentional use of Teel’s assistant district attorney position for unlawful personal gain in violation of the state ethics law.

The charges against Bailey and Teel, who also has a private practice in Rockford, relate to a civil suit they were defending for a client who faces potential capital murder charges, according to a press release by the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.