A former southwestern Illinois attorney who served federal prison time for trying to protect a client's illegal gambling is dead.
The St. Clair County coroner's office confirms that 63-year-old Amiel Cueto died Tuesday morning in a Belleville hospital's intensive-care unit. No details were released.
Cueto was convicted in 1997 of conspiracy and interfering with the federal gambling investigation of client Thomas Venezia.
He spent six years in federal prison and was later disbarred.
At the time of his death, he was still appealing his conviction, alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
Cueto also was a prominent figure in southern Illinois Democratic politics and a childhood friend of Congressman Jerry Costello.