former miami commissioner art teele shoots self in the miami herald bldg.

[flordehinojos]

Art Teele reportedly shoots self

Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 27 2005, 6:29 PM EDT


Former Miami commissioner Authur Teele Jr., recently indicted on corruption charges, has reportedly shot himself in the lobby of the Miami Herald building, according to news partner NBC6. He was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, but his condition was not immediately known.

On July 14, Teele surrendered to federal authorities in Miami-Dade County after a grand jury indicted him on multiple counts of fraud and money-laundering charges. Federal prosecutors said Teele and a former vice president of Fisk Electric Corporation, a Texas-based company, used a minority-owned firm as a front to win federal and county-backed construction contracts at Miami International Airport starting in 2001

snip)
In December, Miami-Dade prosecutors filed 10 bribery charges against Teele, who is accused in that case of taking $135,000 in kickbacks from a businessman whose construction company won lucrative contracts to refurbish impoverished Miami neighborhoods. He is scheduled for trial in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in October.

A Miami-Dade jury convicted Teele of charges he threatened a Miami-Dade police officer who was part of the corruption investigation. Teele was sentenced to two years' probation.

(snip)

my husband just said the t.v. reports that he is alive but has lost a lot of blood


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-artteele,0,6961122.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

[skids]

1. Hrm...

This guy sounds like a Sharpe James wannabe... recommended.

[BR_Parkway]

42. ReThug? check; Religion on sleeve? check; TX corruption connection?

check

Nothing new here - hell, most papers could just make up a boilerplate story - fill in the blanks for NAME, JOB, COMPANY, AMOUNT STOLEN

Run it under the headline:

Today's Case of Pharisee Corruption & Theft

it could be a regular column....

on edit: spellcheck is our friend!

[Judi Lynn]

2. If you're looking for filthy politics, all roads lead to Miami.

What a blight.

[anitar1]

16. via Texas n/t

[6th Borough]

24. Miami's politicians don't need lessons.

Holding public office in Miami has long been an exercise in private wealth building.

Believe me, they don't need any Texans to teach them creative accounting.

[Cocoa]

40. I noticed the Florida-Texas axis as well

[Greyhound]

41. Big reason why I won't do business with any company based in TX or FL

Their state laws make it impossible to redress fraud. It's just the way they do business there. :puke:

[UpInArms]

3. ...

Teele, Arthur E. — of Florida. Republican. Presidential Elector for Florida, 1992. Still living as of 1992.

http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/tazewell-temmey.html#S5S0YSMUO

[benddem]

10. thanks

[benddem]

4. repug or Democrat? n/t

[Patsy Stone]

5. Currently watching this on the local news

Unbelieveable and amazing he's still alive. Wow. We grow crazy politicians in Miami so you don't have to. :crazy:

[6th Borough]

25. He's dead. (Sun-Sentinel Broward Edition) /NT

[Lerkfish]

6. republican or democrat?

the story doesn't say, or I missed it.

although, with the corruption, I'm assuming republican, but I don't know.

[AmandaRuth]

7. listen, if the story doesn't say so

republican, always republican

If it was dem, it would be in bold type, and if they could get away with it, highlighted in yellow.

Seriously, if you pay attention, you will see vast differences on how the media treats Dems and repubs.

[Zorra]

11. Good call, good media analysis. Yes, he is a republican:

Also worked in Reagan administration.

Other People's Money
By Jim DeFede
Published: Thursday, August 22, 1996

Nothing about Arthur E. Teele, Jr., is simple. He is a black Republican. He is mercurial, Machiavellian, and manic. He is paranoid, but often with good reason. He is charming in person, but can be abusive toward his staff, and he once punched out a lobbyist. He is married, but is known to have a flirtatious manner. He is religious and profane, and even his political enemies admit to admiring his skill and tenacity.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/1996-08-22/columns.html

[Judi Lynn]

12. Outstanding article! Jim Defede is a transcendent master. n/t

[flordehinojos]

20. Jim DeFede was (in my humble opinion) the best writer at the Herald.

Tom Fiedler (or whoever else there at the Herald) fired DeFede after the Teele suicide for recording a conversation with Teele (according to the Sun-Sentinel this morning)--although, with DeFede being about the only voice for the people in that CORPORATE FASCIST STRUCTURE which is now the MIAMI HERALD (it was not so during the 60s and early 70s), i am wondering if Teele's suicide gave Tom Fiedler and others there at the Herald the excuse to simply go ahead and do something they may have been wanting to do for a long time: fire DeFede.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Omigod! Fired deFede? He was their best writer, as you said.

His talent alone made the New Times highly appreciated far outside Miami even before the Herald was lucky enough to get him.

I used to worry, living in the Midwest, seeing his face on cable news during the Elián melee, that becoming nationally recognizable might make him too vulnerable to the right-wing Miami bomb tossers!

The Herald has made yet ANOTHER unbelievable mistake in pitching deFede out. Unforgiveable. They won't ever get anyone as talented as he is again.

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. No, they fired him because he illegally taped a phone conversation

with the consent of the other party:

Both Publisher Jesús Díaz Jr. and Executive Editor Tom Fiedler said they fired the popular Metro writer because it is illegal for anyone to tape a conversation with another person without that individual's consent in Florida.

DeFede told them that during his interview with Teele, he turned on a tape machine to record his conversation as the politician confided in him about his public corruption charges, financial problems and other sensitive issues, according to Díaz.

At one point, Teele told the columnist that he was not speaking on the record -- but DeFede continued to record him anyway without his knowledge, Díaz said.

Díaz said that The Herald had no choice but to dismiss DeFede because his conduct was potentially a felony crime and unethical.

more: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12241103.htm

[flordehinojos]

31. they are using it as an excuuuuuse to fire DeFede.

[Freddie Stubbs]

32. Committing a felony will get you fired from most jobs

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

39. Unless that job is in the Republican White House

where it's considered a vital part of the job....

[Justitia]

52. no kidding, huh? LOL -eom

[Judi Lynn]

33. As if reporters never have been known to need some way to record

what their subject was saying in order to write an article!

They pitched deFede out of there just like the Biblical story had the sailors on the boat in the storm pitching Jonah overboard as an offering to tempt God to stop the storm.

Other Herald reporters had done stories on this guy, as you know, and THEY certainly didn't get canned.

The Herald needs to look a little more upright after years of unbelievable right-wing pandering. Without deFede, they don't stand a chance.

[nashville_brook]

45. yeah, tape-recording is standard operating procedure

maybe someone can help me out here -- but i always thought it was a crime only if one person on the line doesn't know. ie that a thrid party is recording without knowledge or consent.

[Freddie Stubbs]

46. Did those reporters commit felonies?

:shrug:

[jobycom]

17. And even so the Repubs will claim media bias on this one

because it is a story that portrays a Republican in a negative light.

[Enraged_Ape]

44. You're absolutely right

This has been going on for years. If they don't mention the political party, 100% it's Republican.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

8. Tried to take the coward's way out

but failed.

Hope it hurts like hell.

[EmmaP]

9. Just Like Budd

Sounds like he tried to pull an R. Budd Dwyer move.

[6th Borough]

26. Dwyer...first thing I thought of as well.

Just substitute TV cameras for beat writers.

[Freddie Stubbs]

30. Dwyer did it at a press conference with the cameras rolling

More than a few reporters probably needed a change of pants when Dwyer pulled out a 357-magnum out of a manila envelope after his rambling speech.

[ConfuZed]

50. I've always wanted to know if Dwyer was Dem or Repube?

[Freddie Stubbs]

51. He was a Republican

The Chairman of the state GOP went to jail for the same scheme.

[Daphne08]

56. I remember that so well.

:( It was terrible.

[Scurrilous]

13. Police: Teele declared dead

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12238270.htm

<snip>

"Former Miami City Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr. fatally shot himself in the head in the lobby of The Miami Herald building this evening, four days after being arraigned on 26 counts of federal mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Teele walked into The Herald lobby shortly after 6 p.m., pulled a gun from a book bag, shook the security guard's hand and asked him to relay a message.

''He said to tell DeFede to tell his wife he loves her,'' said Felix Nazco, 35, the security guard.

He then stood with the gun to his head until Miami police arrived, when he shot himself."

[Straight Shooter]

14. What a jerk!

Suicide spectacle. Do it in private, you prick.

Sorry, I have no compassion for someone who drags everyone else into their sordid business, especially when the suicide is because you're corrupt to the marrow of your soul. Now everybody in that building will be living with the memory of what he did for the rest of their lives.

[flordehinojos]

21. they also lost one of their best writers-DeFede was fired after Teele's

suicide.

[Judi Lynn]

23. The Herald's article overnight says deFede told them about it himself.

From the article:

''As Teele was becoming unglued , I turned on a tape recorder because I could tell that he was distraught and bouncing off the walls,'' DeFede told more than a dozen staffers in the newsroom. ``I made an illegal tape and the company decided to fire me.''

DeFede, who did not want to comment further, issued a prepared statement:

''In a tense situation I made a mistake,'' he said. ``The Miami Herald executives only learned about it because I came to them and admitted it.

``I told them I was willing to accept a suspension and apologize both to the newsroom and our readers. Unfortunately, The Herald decided on the death penalty instead.''

DeFede had covered Teele for more than a decade. When Teele was arrested for allegedly threatening undercover police officers who were tailing him and his wife, DeFede wrote a column saying the charges should never have been filed.
(snip/)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/12241103.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

deFede is worth more than a dozen normal Herald reporters. Too damned bad to see him go.

[flordehinojos]

27. i am so sure that they just used theTeele's suicide as an excuse to fire

DeFede. To me, DeFede was not only the Herald's best writer, he was the only voice not bought by the fascist corporatists. He wrote the truth and the truth often pointed against republicans and the bushes. The Herald has been taken over by right wingers--of which Tom Fiedler is one, as are all of the rest of them.

You can't image the many e-mail back and forths i had with many of their columnists during the elian gonzalez saga (including fiedler) for pointing out that elian needed to be returned to his father .

Fiedler stopped e-mailing back to any of my e-mails a long time ago, after he was promoted to his current position--but had never declined any of my e-mails. Last week i e-mailed a copy of a picture of american soldiers guarding? more like occupying the oil ministries in iraq and fieler's e-mail sent an automatic message that he was on vacation till monday the 18th (the day on which i sent that e-mail).

Earlier this morning, after reading that DeFede was fired, i again sent this e-mail to fiedler,

"With the firing of jim defede (as it is being reported by the sun-sentinel) the MIAMI HERALD HAS NOW TRULY BECOME A CORPORATE FASCIST NEWSPAPER. DeFede was about the only voice FOR THE PEOPLE within that corporate fascist structure. I am so sorry that Teele’s suicide has given the MIAMI HERALD and yourself the excuse (you probably have been looking for, for a long time) to fire DeFede." The e-mail was returned saying just that "Delivery to the following recipients failed." The message does not clarify whether his e-mail box is full, or whether he is not accepting e-mails (from moi?) anymore.

Anyhow, Fiedler, who was responsible for derailing Gary Hart's bid for the presidence why back when, when he hid (in a trash can, or behind some bushes,or ??? i don't recall where) to expose Hart's affair with ????

Is now wanting to play the virtue card by using the excuse of Teele's suicide to fire DeFede...if he is one of the ones in on the DeFede firing.

i lost respect for fiedler a long time ago and,

as far as miami is concerned ... both my husband and i have refused to return to miami since the elian gonzalez saga.

driving down to get pastelitos and a few other cuban staples and comfort food was always a treat for us...however, not since the elian saga have we returned to miami and won't.

[soup]

34. Thank you for the insight, flordehinojos.

I'd just read Jim DeFede had been fired, and was searching for more about that when I found this thread.

[Daphne08]

57. "...to expose Hart's affair with ????" Her name was Rice.

Donna Rice.

The sailboat was called Monkey Business and the year was 1988. That story killed Hart's political career.

[flordehinojos]

59. it sure did, thanks for the name, "Donna Rice" RICE (another RICE)! how

ironic... and it was Tom Fiedler the one who followed their trail, found them out, and scooped them out.

[OzarkDem]

64. That was ok, though

Its acceptable to ruin politicians lives if they're Democrats and having extra marital affairs, but its definitely NOT allowed if the journalist's target is a Repuke who is stealing from taxpayers.

:sarcasm:

[flordehinojos]

28. will the sentinel have the courage to pick up DeFede for one of theirs?

Or ... will he end up, who knows where?

Miami has no other newspaper to offer competition to the Herald. One Voice for the entire Miami... but then ... hasn't America very slowly become almost a one voice for anyplace, except for the internet which we are all so lucky to have!

[Patsy Stone]

36. Maybe he'll go back to the New Times? n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

15. photo from Miami Herald:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/

[angryxyouth]

18. Bud Dwyer did it best.

Teele is just an all around looser O8)

[Scurrilous]

19. Tales of Teele: Sleaze Stories

Male prostitutes and multiple mistresses, drug money in Gucci shopping bags, bribery and extortion conspiracies. And you thought you'd heard it all about Art Teele

http://miaminewtimes.com/Issues/current/news/feature_1.html



Long article. Probably what pushed him over the edge.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

35. With so much corruption, he had to be a friend of Jeb's.

Probably died with a lot secrets under his hat.

[zbdent]

37. Call me a tin-foil hatter, but

two bullet wounds in the back of the head is a suicide?

Seems rather awkward, especially after the first shot . . .

[LaurenG]

38. This isn't a tin foil thought. nt

[soup]

43. I don't know 'jack' about guns, but the article said it was

a semi-automatic handgun. Would that account for 2 shots?

[soda]

58. two shots?

A spokesman for the city Fire-Rescue Department, Ignatius Carroll, said Teele was found with two small caliber holes in the back of his head.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050728015909990010
is that one in and out? a lot of double tap suicides i think

[barbaraann]

47. All Republicanism is a form of suicide/filicide.

Some shoot themselves, some support environmental poisoning, some support warmongering, some support the destruction of health care, etc. The only difference is that some of them choose fast ways to kill themselves and/or their children and some choose slow ways.

[flyarm]

48. ARTICLE FROM LAST NIGHT .. he was republican!

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000999325

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
([e-mail])

Former City Official Shoots Himself in 'Miami Herald' Lobby

Published: July 27, 2005 8:15 PM ET updated 11 pm

MIAMI A former city commissioner arraigned four days ago on corruption charges shot himself in the lobby of The Miami Herald building Wednesday after asking to see a columnist, the newspaper reported on its Web site. He later died, according to the Herald.

The Herald said Arthur E. Teele Jr., a Republican, shot himself in the mouth shortly after 6 p.m. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He shot himself after asking a security guard if he could see columnist Jim DeFede, the newspaper said.

"He said to tell DeFede to tell his wife he loves her," the security guard told the Herald.

Teele had been charged with 26 counts of federal mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
([e-mail])

[davsand]

49. Funny, I'd have expected him to shoot himself in some body part...

"...shoots self in the miami herald bldg."

It was a JOKE--OK? I'm sorry for his family that he's dead, but it was a funny headline.



Laura

[warrens]

53. Man, Carl Hiasson couldn't have written something this good

Did this guy read all his books and columns, then decide to outdo him, but in real life?

Florida politics, particularly in Miami, is just plain bizarre.

[skids]

54. By the way... doesn't that spell HELL?

Don't the fundies think suicide is a one way ticket to to huke lau?

One more upstanding Repug in hell, then.

[Blue Belle]

55. I'm surprised he was indicted....

Current history has shown that Republicans who commit fraud, launder money, or take kickbacks get promoted... not indicted. The only cruel and unusual punishment they have to endure is doing their obligatory commentary gig on Fox News or MSNBC... :eyes:

[Danieljay]

60. Had he slept with Jeff Gannon?

According to the Herald's web site: "A lengthy cover story that consumes much of tomorrow's edition of Miami New Times accuses Teele of being involved with drug traffic, bribery, extortion and sex with multiple mistresses and male prostitutes." Actually, the edition was on the streets at 3 p.m. Wednesday, shortly before Teele killed himself.

This guy had some serious issues. Talk about major repression. Sad.

[flordehinojos]

65. and it is precisely this story (that those people interviewed in NBC 6)

today, say, may have pushed TEELE over the edge.

[LibertyLou]

61. TWO Bullets to the Back of the Head? Execution Perhaps

Suicide? Suuuuurrree.....

Semi-autos do NOT fire rounds automatically. Each round has to be pulled by the finger... When a round is discharged, the cartridge ejects from the side port, the slide blows back and then forward to chamber another round. It then takes another trigger pull. Double shot executions are virtually unheard of. Even if you were trying. Also rare in suicide is a shot to the BACK of the head (try imagine the scene...doing it in the LOBBY of a building? QUICKLY with a gun crank your arm up and to the back of your head to fire TWO shots? I could be wrong, but this is very suspicious...

He apparently was going to deliver evidence to a reporter (who had just been fired for reporting on the story-taping a phone call was the reason given). His own career and life was toast, and I believe he was going to name names and take some others down with him.


Former Miami Official "Kills Himself"* at Newspaper
By CORALIE CARLSON, AP

KRTArthur E. Teele Jr., a former Miami city commissioner, was indicted earlier this month.

Talk About It: Post Thoughts

MIAMI (July 28) - A former city commissioner recently indicted on corruption charges fatally shot himself Wednesday in the lobby of The Miami Herald building, authorities said.

Arthur E. Teele Jr. shot himself in the head shortly after 6 p.m., police said. He had just asked a security guard if he could see columnist Jim DeFede, an acquaintance of many years, The Herald reported.
...
A spokesman for the city Fire-Rescue Department, Ignatius Carroll, said Teele was found with two small caliber holes in the back of his head. Initially Teele responded to questions by blinking his eyes on command, he said.
...
Teele and an electrical contractor were indicted July 14 on charges of lying to get more than $20 million in contracts at Miami International Airport that were supposed to go to minority-owned businesses.

Teele, who is black, is also a former Miami-Dade County commissioner. He was convicted in March in state court of threatening a police officer as part of an unrelated corruption investigation that has yet to go to trial.

DeFede said he spoke with Teele several times Wednesday, the Herald reported.

In the longest call, about 90 minutes before the shooting, Teele spoke emotionally about his legal problems and various allegations that had been made against him, the report said.

"He was very upset," said DeFede, who knew Teele for 14 years.

In their last call, Teele said he was at the Herald and leaving DeFede a package, but did not sound particularly upset, DeFede said.

"I said to Art, `Well, is it urgent? Do you want me to come down there right now? Is it something I need to see tonight?"

Teele replied no, and hung up.

Diaz also said that DeFede had been fired.

"In the process of reporting the story, Executive Editor Tom Fiedler and I learned that a phone conversation with Arthur Teele had been recorded without his permission by columnist Jim DeFede. DeFede acknowledged his mistake and the Herald terminated his employment," Diaz said.
...
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050728015909990010


*Quotes in article titled added by poster

[LibertyLou]

62. Another inconsistency

<snip>

"Former Miami City Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr. fatally shot himself in the head in the lobby of The Miami Herald building this evening, four days after being arraigned on 26 counts of federal mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Teele walked into The Herald lobby shortly after 6 p.m., pulled a gun from a book bag, shook the security guard's hand and asked him to relay a message.

''He said to tell DeFede to tell his wife he loves her,'' said Felix Nazco, 35, the security guard.

He then stood with the gun to his head until Miami police arrived, when he shot himself."
...

Arthur E. Teele Jr. shot himself in the head shortly after 6 p.m., police said. He had just asked a security guard if he could see columnist Jim DeFede

Which is it?

Did a sniper take him out? A possibility if SWAT responded to an armed man...

Strange suggestions, I know, but, stranger things have happened.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

70. Again... 2 shot suicides are NOT Uncommon

Reflex from recoil is often enough to fire a second shot, especially with a small round.

[flordehinojos]

63. DeFede, speaking to NBC 6 said ...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-728jimdefede,0,5109960.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

(snip) .."DeFede said he had known Teele for 14 years.

"Whatever you want to say about Art Teele -- there was good and there was bad in Art, but he was probably one of the brightest politicians I'd ever met," DeFede said.

DeFede said he does not have the tape of the conversation he recorded with Teele. He said it is in the possession of the Herald and he does not know if it will be released.

"I miss being at the Herald. I was there for three years," DeFede said. "It was the best job I've ever had. I'm very sad that they no longer want me to work there."



and on a snippet, also on local NBC6 TOM FIEDLER said, (paraphrasing here somewhat) that the herald could not, not take any action against DeFede, and then have to take action against other columnists who might decide to copy cat Defede's example.

DeFede, however, told NBC6 that when he went and told his superiors at the HERALD about the tape they were OKAY with it, and that only hours later they called him to fire him.

JUST AN EXCUSE TO FIRE HIM ...

and DeFede is honest enough and not malicious enough, and good hearted enough to admit to NBC6 that he missess working for THE HERALD and identifies it as the best job he ever had.

TOM FIEDLER SUCKS! In my humble opinion, and so do the rest of the right wing corporatists news-people who have taken over the herald.

P.S. also people who knew Teele and were interviewed in the NBC6 newsreport consistently say that Teele was planning his suicide since he was first indicted, they also say that what may have sent him over the edge was a story published by the MIAMI NEWTIMES which WAS NOT written by DeFede.

No. TOM FIEDLER DOESN'T LIKE HEARING/READING CENTRIST, PROGRESSIVE, OR NON-RIGHTWING POINTS OF VIEW and has used this TEELE situation to fire JIM DeFede. ooouuuch -- it is pretty sad.

[LibertyLou]

66. Defede's Firing; "THE" shot

"In their last call, right before he shot himself, Teele told DeFede he was at the Herald and leaving him a package. He did not sound particularly upset, DeFede said.

Miami police spokesman Delrish Moss told reporters that police received a report of a man, dressed in blue and holding a gun to his head, in the lobby of the Herald.

"We heard the shot as soon as officers arrived on the scene. He was shot in the head," Moss said.

Teele is also a former Miami-Dade County commissioner. He was convicted in March in state court of threatening a police officer as part of an unrelated corruption investigation that has yet to go to trial.

DeFede, a Herald columnist since June 2002, had previously worked at the Miami New Times. After his dismissal,
DeFede issued a prepared statement: "In a tense situation I made a mistake," he said. "The Miami Herald executives only learned about it because I came to them and admitted it. I told them I was willing to accept a suspension and apologize both to the newsroom and our readers. Unfortunately, The Herald decided on the death penalty instead." "

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000999325

Hmmmm.... "was shot"...(by whom?)..."THE shot" (but there are TWO bullet holes though)

[flordehinojos]

67. thanks for the link to the editorandpublisher story

which also links then to another article about fernandez-rundell's office looking into whether or not DeFede broke the law. ... the publisher for the miami herald talks about the herald having to hold itself up to a higher standard...the guy is full of crap.

[Judi Lynn]

68. Teele reportedly left distraught by wave of investigations

Teele reportedly left distraught by wave of investigations

By JOHN PAIN
Associated Press Writer

July 28, 2005

Media reports about Arthur E. Teele Jr.'s alleged contacts with drug dealers and his reputed homosexual affairs combined with several indictments left the former city commissioner distraught before he killed himself, two people who knew him said Thursday

Arthur E. Teele Jr. killed himself Wednesday in the lobby of The Miami Herald. Just hours before, a weekly newspaper published police reports containing allegations that Teele led a lurid private life.

Teele had pleaded not guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges this month for allegedly taking $59,000 in kickbacks to help a businessman get millions of dollars in contracts at Miami International Airport. If convicted, he faced a possible prison term of more than 100 years.

Miami-area media have given extensive coverage to Teele's corruption case. The Miami New Times, the weekly newspaper, put a lengthy story on its Web site Wednesday afternoon under the headline "Tales of Teele: Sleaze Stories." The bulk of it was based on allegations contained in police reports in his state corruption case, which had not gone to trial. The police reports detailed surveillance of Teele and contained interviews with inmates who spoke of their alleged dealings with Teele.
(snip/...)

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050728/APN/507281165&cachetime=3&template=dateline

[Judi Lynn]

69. Teele's suicide puts spotlight on feds' public corruption cases

Teele's suicide puts spotlight on feds' public corruption cases


By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI -- The federal corruption charges brought against former City Commissioner Arthur E. Teele Jr. two weeks before his suicide carried the possibility of a long prison stretch and dim prospects for acquittal, government officials and defense lawyers said Thursday.

The 26-count grand jury indictment announced July 14 made Teele one of the more than 1,000 government officials charged with wrongdoing each year by federal prosecutors and the FBI, who rank corruption investigations below only terrorism, espionage and computer-related crime in terms of importance.

"It strikes at the core of what our country's about," said Dan O'Brien, chief of the FBI's public corruption and government fraud program. "Our democracy depends on a healthy, efficient and ethical government."
(snip)

Although Teele was also charged with corruption by state prosecutors, defense lawyers say it was the federal case - with a possible prison term of well over 100 years - that probably made it clear to Teele his days as a free man were numbered.
(snip/...)

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050728/APN/507280550

[flordehinojos]

73. i had just posted this in another thread when i saw yourlastthreepostings

so... i hope it is okay that i am copying it here too.

tom fiedler and jesus diaz jr.,little pristine virtuosos, these two, are reactcing hysterically and with some bush butt kissing to the corporatist fascist agenda which has taken over MSM,the duo is using the taping of teele's conversation with DeFede as an excuse to fire Defede who has been the one voice in the Herald who has never been bought by spin, and whose pursuit of truth has been as refreshing as a ray of sun shine after a morning storm; then, as proof of their highly hypocritical virtuosity, they even have the temerity of saying that they are not going to turn the illicit, illegal tape over to the police because Teele didn't know it was being recorded --one wonders what was in that tape and,whether, if Teele was ranting about unfairness to himself..., he might have, in that process, implicated anyone else in any further scandals--scandals that the Herald, the right wingers in Miami, and the bush goons,might, in any way, be trying to protect.

if this virtuosity duo of fiedler and diaz jr., were in fact two virtuous prima donnas they would immediately turn the illicit, illegal tape over to the police and let the police sort out whatever needs to be sorted out and let them flame (bring charges or investigations) to whomever else needs to be flamed (investigated).

however, by their comportment, they are just obscuring the sunshine laws of the state of florida even further (if there are still any sunshine laws left in jebbie's bush contaminated state) stuffing whatever (or whomever) it is they need to protect,into the dark drawers of their hypocrisy.

neither fiedler's words, nor those of diaz jr's pass the smell test!

[Judi Lynn]

71. Politician's death fuels more drama at Miami Herald

July 29, 2005, 12:08AM

Politician's death fuels more drama at Miami Herald
Writer contacted by Arthur Teele just before his suicide in lobby is fired over taping
By MANUEL ROIG-FRANZIA
Washington Post
MIAMI - The flamboyant politician is dead in the most flamboyant of ways. The muckraking columnist is out of a job. The newsroom is in an uproar.

This city with its well-refined appetite for the bizarre has been riveted to the splashy parallel melodramas unspooling since Arthur E. Teele Jr., shot himself to death Wednesday in the Miami Herald lobby. He was distraught about a Miami New Times online story that detailed his alleged contacts with drug dealers, reputed homosexual affairs and corruption charges.
(snip)

One of Teele's last acts — a consummate insider source — may have been dropping off information about a case that DeFede needed for a story. Teele called from the Herald lobby but assured DeFede there was no rush to collect the package. Seconds later, Teele shot himself.

When Herald executives told DeFede about the shooting, he said he realized he held "Art Teele's suicide note."
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3287162
(Free registration required)

[emad]

72. From the UK's Independent:

There was speculation that by taking his life in the lobby of Florida's most important paper, Mr Teele may have been sending a message about the torment of his disgrace and how it had been made worse by the city's media. It seemed hardly a coincidence that the city's main alternative newspaper, the Miami New Times, published a front-page exposé yesterday detailing the new charges against him. It had the headline: "Tales of Teele: Sleaze Stories."

The Times story was available on its website on Wednesday, the day Mr Teele died. A sub-headline read: "Male prostitutes and multiple mistresses, drug money in Gucci shopping bags, bribery and extortion conspiracies. And you thought you'd heard it all about Art Teele."

Shock has been expressed by executives at both the newspapers. "It was the first thing that crossed my mind, that this was a response to our story, and it filled me with dread," said the New Times' editor, Jim Mullin. "Who knows? It's all speculation." A statement of condolence was released by The Miami Herald, which said that Mr DeFede had been sacked.

The newspaper said Mr DeFede had earlier tape-recorded an interview with Mr Teele without telling him it would be kept on tape. Before the corruption charges began to overtake him, Mr Teele was well known for championing the poorest neighbourhoods of Miami and leading efforts for urban rehabilitation. "He was a political giant in south Florida," said Chris Smith, a member of the Florida legislature, "It's sad to see it had come to him taking his own life."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article302265.ece