Dozier Allen Jr. has hired as a defense attorney the man who once appointed him mayor of Gary in 2006.
Scott King has been retained to defend Allen against federal charges that Allen illegally took money from a welfare-to-work grant while serving in his eighth and final term as Calumet Township trustee in 2002.
King was not Allen's first choice for defense attorney.
Allen, 77, originally hired his longtime friend Fred Work to defend him, but prosecutors have listed Work as a witness in the case, which means the defense attorney could have a conflict of interest -- or even insider information -- in the case.
Work has been friends with Allen for 49 years, and he served as township attorney while the alleged grant embezzlement was taking place in 2002, federal court records allege.
Work has told investigators he was unaware of the payments to Allen from the grant until federal officials told him about it, court records state.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Bell said in court records that Work could be called as a witness to show that the payments were hidden so deeply that even the township's own attorney was kept in the dark.
Allen hired King to fight Bell's efforts to get Work thrown off the case.
King resigned as mayor of Gary on March 23, 2006, four days after appointing Allen as deputy mayor. Allen served as acting mayor of the city for 11 days until April 3, 2006, when the city's Democratic precinct committee members elected Rudy Clay to serve out King's term.
King argues that the U.S. Constitution gives Allen the right to have his defense counsel of choice and that mandating Allen hire a new attorney this close to trial will create significant financial and legal hardships.
The trial is scheduled for November in Hammond federal court.
Allen and three of his deputies -- Wanda Joshua, Ann Marie Karras and Albert Young Jr. -- were indicted in September for allegedly making $143,000 in payments to themselves from a grant that was intended to help the township compile lists of welfare recipients.
All four have pleaded not guilty. Allen has argued the payments were legally executed and disclosed to auditors.
