Ex-Prosecutor Charged With Trying To Have Another Lawyer Killed

A former county prosecutor in Michigan is in court for allegedly trying to carry out a bizarre plot to murder another lawyer who once opposed him.

The former prosecutor, Clarence Gomery, allegedly tried to pay a hit man $20,000 to kill another local attorney, Christopher Cooke, Traverse City authorities told the Associated Press. Cooke represented an ex-business partner of Gomery's who sued him for fraud and malpractice. Gomery is charged with solicitation of murder.

A judge had previously ordered Gomery to pay the partner $315,000 for his legal fees, and Gomery filed for bankruptcy in April, according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

The alleged murder-for-hire plot unraveled Saturday when police were tipped off by Dale Fisher, a local dock contractor whom Gomery allegedly tried to pay to kill Cooke, according to mlive.com. Gomery is currently being held in Grand Traverse County Jail on $5 million bond. Cooke has moved his family, according to mlive.com

"It's been a very stressful time for us," Cooke told mlive.com. "Thankfully there are still people with the moral fortitude to come forward."

Gomery served as prosecutor in Leelanau County, Michigan from 1997 until 2000 and was working as a criminal defense attorney in Traverse City at the time of his arrest.

We reached out to Gomery's law office, and the person who answered the phone said the office had no comment.