Friday, September 16, 2016, 11:30 am News Flash Archive

A Cleveland man has been indicted for trying to shake down local attorney Lee Abraham for money in exchange for his efforts to stop a fictitious Mexican Mafia "hit" against Abraham.

Cleveland resident Dartagnan Centerio Bronner, 28, was indicted July 15th by the Leflore County Grand Jury for the crime of "false pretense."

According to the indictment, Mr. Bronner is accused "on or about April 9, 2016, [of] unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously with intent to cheat and defraud, obtain[ing] the money of Lee Abraham, in an amount greater than five hundred dollars, by making false pretenses or representations, knowing the same to be false, in relation to an alleged Mexican Mafia 'hit' contract on Lee Abraham which DARTAGNAN CENTERIO BRONNER offered to have taken care of in exchange for money in an amount greater than five hundred dollars...."

Mr. Abraham is not unfamiliar with such threats. In 2012, a shoot-out took place at his office on Market Street between alleged hit men and agents of the State Attorney General's office, leaving one of the suspects dead and the other wounded.

Later that day, local oncologist Dr. Arnold Smith was arrested for hiring the alleged hit-men and sending them to kill Mr. Abraham. Smith was later declared mentally incompetent to stand trial, and remains at the State Mental Hospital. The surviving suspect has yet to be tried.

All sorts of conspiracy theories and recriminations erupted in the wake of that 2012 shoot-out. Abraham filed a civil suit against Smith for plotting to kill him. Just before it was supposed to go to trial, Smith filed for federal bankruptcy protection, postponing the civil trial now for almost two years.

Bankruptcy papers revealed that Smith is worth in excess of $10 million, with relatively minor debts totaling less than $250,000. The bankruptcy filing was widely viewed as a stalling tactic by Smith.

Abraham's suit against Smith is now scheduled to be tried early next year. See Federal Judge sends Abraham v. Smith back to state court for trial.

As for Dartagnan Bronner, his police record is littered with multiple arrests for domestic violence in Greenwood stretching back to 2006. it is not clear whether he was ever convicted on any of the previous charges.

No connection has been suggested between Mr. Bronner's activities and Dr. Smith or any of his alleged accomplices.

The indictment against Bronner was brought, not by the Leflore County District Attorney's office, but by a member of the Attorney General's staff acting as a special prosecutor.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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