Ex-Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer faces new charges

MILWAUKEE - There are new felony charges against Milwaukee’s embattled former elected city attorney.

Tearman Spencer was about to go to trial for other allegations of misconduct in office.

These new charges could land Tearman Spencer in prison for 29 years if he's convicted.

Prosecutors say this time, the allegations happened outside his work as Milwaukee city attorney.

New allegations

What we know:

The new allegations all center on a Milwaukee home.

Prosecutors say Tearman Spencer and a co-defendant illegally bought it for $8,000, then listed it for $245,000.

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Prosecutors say the two "allegedly misrepresented the value of the property to [the seller], convincing him that it was worth only $8,000. In reality, the property was valued significantly higher."

Spencer's attorney is defending his client.

"We've got somebody who purchased a home and is now selling it for more. That's America, right?" They don't tell you about all the money that it took to rehab the property, right? But again, nobody is complaining about this. This is something created by the district attorney's office following a review of cell phone materials, simply because they don't want to have a showdown next week," said William Sulton, Tearman Spencer’s attorney.

Prosecutors say it goes deeper than that. They accuse Spencer of money laundering and receiving stolen property from the home.

That's because prosecutors say the person who sold the home didn't have the right to do that.

It was one of the children of the deceased owner.

Attorney 1, page 34:

What they're saying:

Prosecutors quote from text messages a family attorney sent to the co-defendant:

"The prior sale is not legal and has to be quitclaimed back to the estate."

"But no sale can happen without the probate of the estate."

"Transfer of a property from an estate cannot happen it’s illegal and someone can be charged criminally if it’s not fixed."

Prosecutor's argument

What they're saying:

Prosecutors say the two "Obtained the property in the first instance through deceptive means and received it as stolen property by obtaining the property outside of probate from a descendant’s estate, and retained it when they were directly told it was illegal to do so and refused to return it."

Prosecutors also say Spencer acted as a notary public on the deed, though they say his license was revoked in 2013.

And prosecutors say he further broke the law by notarizing his own signature.

"By the way, there was some letter way back in 2013 that nobody knew about that said that he lost his notary license, no evidence at all, even no representation in the criminal complaint that he was aware of it, right?" added Sulton. "This is a hyper-technicality that we're talking about here. No crime was committed, right? The person who sold the property, who was represented by not one but two attorneys, one of which is a judge, now, is not complaining about this deal, right?"

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A day after the latest charges, online records show the listing for this Milwaukee home was removed.

Spencer was supposed to go to trial in October on his earlier misconduct in office allegations.

But, prosecutors say that investigation led to these new charges, and they want the cases joined together.

What's next:

The judge will decide that question in December, meaning no trial anytime soon for Milwaukee's former city attorney.