Update: Plot unraveled quickly, says sheriff

TRAVERSE CITY, MI — Well-known northern Michigan defense attorney Clarence Gomery is being arraigned this morning on charges of soliciting the murder of another Traverse City attorney.

Gomery, 59, a former prosecutor, was due in 86th District Court in Traverse City on Monday, July 14, after being arrested at 4 a.m. by Grand Traverse County deputies.

County prosecutors say Gomery offered Dale Fisher $20,000 to murder attorney Christopher Cooke, who was opposing counsel in an acrimonious lawsuit last year in which a jury found Gomery committed fraud and malpractice.

Gomery was sued by former business partner Fred Topous Jr. in 2013 after a partnership soured between the two men, who intended to buy and redevelop the former Mitchel Creek Golf Course property.

According to the complaint, Gomery gave Fisher, who was working with police, a down payment of $1,000 on July 13 in order to buy a gun for killing Cooke.

Authorities have scheduled a 2 p.m. press conference.

Gomery is being held on a $5 million cash surety bond.

A person who answered the phone at Gomery and Associates, 423 E. Eighth Street, said the firm has no comment on the case.

Cooke declined to comment until after the sheriff's department's press conference.