Arthur Teele Arthur " Art " Teele ( May 14 , 1946 – July 27 , 2005 ) was an American lawyer and politician who belonged to the Republican Party . Born into a wealthy black family in Florida , Teele received an excellent education and became a respected officer in the US Army and went on to a successful career in private practice and politics . A controversial tabloid raised scandalous charges against him during his fight to clear his name from a conviction , and he committed suicide . Posthumously , his case was appealed and his conviction was overturned exonerating him of all charges . Art Teele married Celestra Patton Teele , of whom he had one son Arthur Patton Teele . ( Trey ) Teele , later married Stephanie K . Teele of whom he was married upon his death . Legal and military career . Teele was a law student who went into the military after his graduation . Teele served the US Army as a Judge Advocate General on the personal staff of General Henry Emerson , Commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg from July 1975 to June 1977 . Teele earned his law degree from Florida State University College of Law . In private practice : civil rights , NASCAR , and the France family . After his honorable discharge from the US Army , Teele provided " pro bono " services to the defendants in the Wilmington Ten which was the most prominent civil rights case in America during the 1970s . Teele met with the attorneys for the Wilmington Ten as well as attorneys and administrative staff of North Carolina Attorney General Rufus Edmisten . In 1980 , the federal courts ordered a new trial for the Wilmington Ten , and Attorney General Edmisten dropped all charges after hearing appeals from Teele and others permitting the Wilmington Ten to go free . Returning to the private practice of law in his home state of Florida , Teele became the attorney for Bill France , the founder of NASCAR , before entering politics in Miami . In Europe , Teele consulted with Interpol on investigations into organized crime and international homicide cases . Government career . Shortly after his election in 1980 , President Ronald Reagan appointed Teele to the post of Assistant Secretary of Transportation . From 1981 – 83 , Teele was the head of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration ( UMTA ) , a position officially known as Administrator of UMTA ( now FTA ) . In the 1990s , Teele was elected Miami - Dade County Commissioner in Miami , Florida . Following a controversial investigation and trial , Teele was removed from office by Governor Jeb Bush on March 2 , 2005 . Although Teele was convicted of corruption by threat against a public servant , the verdict was overturned on appeal after his death by suicide . Suicide . On July 27 , 2005 , Teele walked into the " The Miami Herald " building and shot himself fatally in the head . At the time of his death , Teele was a popular politician with a loyal following in Miami - Dade . Teele ' s conviction stemmed from an incident with a Miami - Dade County detective who had been conducting surveillance as part of a corruption probe . That probe had resulted in Teele being charged with ten felony counts of unlawful compensation with trial set for October 2005 . Teele was also under federal indictment for money laundering , mail fraud and wire fraud for allegedly helping a minority company win more than $ 20 million worth of electrical contracts at Miami International Airport for work that was actually undertaken by a larger non - minority company . Teele faced a possible 20 years in prison if convicted of the federal charges , but an examination of his personal financial records after his death revealed that Teele was not a rich man and was actually in debt for half a million dollars . Tabloid scandal . On the day of his suicide , the " Miami New Times " published a cover story on Teele which was based on the report of the corruption probe and detailed alleged dealings with illegal drugs and a transvestite prostitute with a criminal record . Shortly before he shot himself , Teele called Miami Herald columnist Jim DeFede , who taped their conversation . This taping led to the dismissal of DeFede . According to the tape , Teele professed his love for his wife , Stephanie , in a rambling conversation that revealed a spike in his personal anxiety . A prominent Republican campaigner . Teele campaigned for Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential primaries , and this political association was raised as an issue in the African - American community when Teele ran for mayor of Miami - Dade County later that year . Teele was one of the top two candidates to emerge from the general election , but he was narrowly defeated in a runoff by Alex Penelas . Conviction overturned and Teele exonerated . On April 18 , 2007 , almost two years after he committed suicide , Teele ' s conviction for corruption by threat against a public servant was overturned by the Florida Third District Court of Appeal . The court allowed the appeal by a deceased individual on the basis that Teele ' s conviction precluded his wife from making a valid claim for death benefits under the City of Miami ' s pension plan and other merits of his case . " Miami Noir " . A narrowly focused documentary about Teele ' s final days that concentrated on the sensational aspects of his tragic suicide was produced by two University of Miami film students , Josh Miller and Sam Rega . Miller and Rega ' s student documentary , " Miami Noir , " was screened at the 2008 Miami International Film Festival . Their documentary re - examined the travesty in the context of political pressures from the Florida State Attorney ' s Office during Jeb Bush ' s administration that raised serious concerns about the motives for the official persecution of Art Teele .