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Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
January 12, 2001, Friday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION
NEWS, Pg. A9

ASHCROFT IS ASSAILED FOR MEETING WITH BACKERS OF JAILED DENTIST; MAN HAD TIES TO GROUP FOR WHITE RIGHTS; IT SAYS THEN-SENATOR DIDN'T KNOW IT
Jo Mannies; Post-Dispatch Political Correspondent

On Sept. 22 at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, then-Sen. John Ashcroft met for 10 minutes with two local supporters of Dr. Charles "Tom" Sell, a dentist from Creve Coeur who has been in federal custody for three years.

The session was prompted, in part, by a front-page story in the Post-Dispatch a week earlier that chronicled the troubles of Sell. He has yet to be tried on charges of Medicaid fraud and of plotting to kill an FBI agent. He says he's innocent. Ashcroft was among several Missouri members of Congress, all Republicans, who made written requests last year for federal investigations into Sell's case.

Ashcroft's role now is coming under heightened scrutiny by those opposed to his nomination to be the nation's next attorney general. His allies, and Sell's backers, say Ashcroft's opponents are unfairly misinterpreting routine action on behalf of constituents.

"There's a coordinated effort on behalf of people who disagree with Sen. Ashcroft on the issues to distort his views," said Mindy Tucker, spokeswoman for President-elect George W. Bush's transition team.

What's fired up Ashcroft's critics are the ties of Sell and many of his supporters to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a Bridgeton-based group that long has been accused of advocating white rights. The group denies being racist.

A commentator in the latest issue of the New York Observer points out the council link as he questions why Ashcroft would be interested in Sell's case. In recent days, the council has signed a nationally distributed petition that supports Ashcroft's nomination.

Gordon Baum, the council's chief executive, and others say Ashcroft was unaware of the council ties because it has nothing to do with their effort to free Sell. "It's irrelevant," Baum said. "I don't think he even knows about our group."

Local pro-Sell activist Tom Bugel and Mark Sell, Sell's brother, had sought the meeting with Ashcroft at the airport. They sought the senator's help in obtaining videotapes that they believe exist and that they say document Sell's allegations of mistreatment while in custody at a federal prison hospital in Springfield, Mo.

Tucker, who was speaking on behalf of Ashcroft, said Thursday: "The meeting lasted approximately 10 minutes. The people he met with were insisting that he take action. He had his staff look into it. No action was taken."

Okay, up until this next one, I was highly skeptical. People who suffer from delusional disorders can be unbelievably believable. I've sat one-on-one with several people who made me feel compelled to go triple-check their chart after talking to them, just to "make sure."

Some of them can appear perfectly "normal" and spin elaborate and grandiose stories of being FBI ops or DEA plants, complete with factual but very obscure information that you know to be true. The more intelligent of these people can spin very believable stories based on fact and research they've gleaned from their voracious reading habits, usually from the internet.

But with all that said, this next one got my attention...

Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
April 27, 2001, Friday, FIVE STAR LIFT EDITION
Correction Appended
METRO, Pg. C3

COURT RULES THAT U.S. MAY DRUG IMPRISONED DENTIST AGAINST HIS WILL; COUNTY MAN, HELD FOR NEARLY 4 YEARS, HAS YET TO BE TRIED
Carolyn Tuft

A federal judge has ruled that the government can forcibly drug Dr. Charles "Tom" Sell so that he's fit to stand trial for charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit murder.

But Sell's lawyer appealed the ruling and won a stay last week. The lawyer, Lee Lawless, said Sell was terrified of being drugged.

Sell is a dentist from Town and Country who has been imprisoned for nearly four years without being tried on the charges of conspiracy to kill a witness and Medicaid fraud. U.S. District Judge Donald J. Stohr had ruled that Sell was "delusional" because he had said he was sent to San Antonio days before April 19, 1993 - when the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, burned and Sell was to identify the possible charred remains of Army personnel.

Stohr also ruled that contrary to what the federal government believes, Sell is not dangerous.

But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Stohr's ruling.

Sell also has said that his civil attorney, Gordon Baum, was roughed up at his home by an FBI agent. That statement was backed up by Baum, who testified in 1999 that he was attacked by FBI agents on April 30, 1998.

Sell also has provided Army records that show that he was called as a forensic dentist to identify remains at an Army burn center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. That happened the same day that the Waco compound burned.

Sell has maintained his innocence in the fraud and conspiracy charges. He also has claimed that the government is angry with him because he has said federal authorities plotted to blow up the Branch Davidian compound.

Sell said last week from his solitary confinement cell that he would retract all statements he has made about the government's role at Waco and Baum, his civil attorney, if the government would not medicate him forcibly.

"If I have to publicly denounce any of that, I will," Sell said. "I just want to be tried."

Sell has been held at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., since 1999, when his bond was revoked after he allegedly threatened a potential witness who worked in his dental office by pointing his finger at her. He had been free for several months after posting bond. Prior to bond, Sell was held in county jails around the area on the charges.

Sell also faces the conspiracy to commit murder charge on allegations that he and his wife, Mary, tried to hire a hit man to kill a former dental office employee, Jane Alderman, and FBI Special Agent Anthony Box.

Mary Sell pleaded guilty to conspiracy on Sept. 24, 1998, and in January last year was sentenced to two years in prison. [see correction below; this is wrong]

Documents obtained by the Post-Dispatch show that the FBI placed Alderman in Sell's office. Alderman cooperated with authorities in hopes the government would go easier on her for allegedly lying at a workers' compensation hearing and allegedly obtaining controlled drugs.

Alderman said that Sell threatened her while he was out on bond by pointing his finger at her. Sell says he never saw Alderman while he was out on bond.

Federal prosecutors Howard Marcus and Dorothy McMurty were unavailable for comment. They have argued that Sell is incompetent to stand trial and that he is dangerous.

Lawless, Sell's public defender, said that it was usually the defense lawyers who try to argue incompetence. His argument is that the government has no right to forcibly medicate Sell.

"It's highly unusual" that the government would continue delays by arguing for incompetency, Lawless said. "Usually, they are the ones fighting that."

CORRECTION DATE: April 30, 2001

CORRECTION:
This story about Dr. Charles "Tom" Sell incorrectly characterized the disposition of the criminal case against his wife, Mary. In a plea bargain, Mary Sell pleaded guilty to 10 counts of mail fraud, and all other counts against her were dropped.