Miami Noir: The Arthur E. Teele Story (2008)

In the early 1980s, a young, bright, black politician moved to Miami from Washington, D.C. after directing 220 million dollars into Miami's transportation system as head of the Urban Mass Transit Administration under Ronald Reagan's administration. From the late 1980s until 2004, Arthur Teele flourished in Miami as a county and city commissioner where he strived to improve the living conditions for impoverished black communities. The media's scrutiny of misappropriation of government funds and contracts would lead to an under-cover investigation of Teele initiated by the Florida State Attorney. The drama began to unfold when Teele ran an under-cover detective off the road for following his wife. This led to his conviction for threatening a public servant. State and Federal charges of fraud and money laundering would bring additional arrests for Teele. With mounting debt, bad press, allegations of soliciting a transvestite prostitute, and the development of his criminal charges, Arthur Teele would commit suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald newspaper building on July 27, 2005.