Judge will decide whether Teddy Mitchell can keep defense attorney

Scott Adams is fighting to stay in the criminal case.

“The case law is 100 percent on my side. ... I have no conflict in this case. I never even talked to him about this deal,” the well-known Oklahoma City attorney said Tuesday.

Prosecutors on Friday notified U.S. District Judge David Russell that the attorney's father, Richard Adams, “is a material witness in this case.”

They contend the judge should disqualify Scott Adams if the judge determines the “ethical conflict will adversely affect his performance.”

A federal grand jury last month indicted Mitchell, two of his sons, six other men and a Costa Rican company. The case is pending in federal court in Oklahoma City.

Mitchell, 57, of Oklahoma City, is accused of being the leader of an illegal gambling operation that had at least $8.1 million in proceeds. He has pleaded not guilty.

In their notice to the judge, prosecutors reported Richard Adams frequently participated in high-stakes poker games at Mitchell's house. Betting pots for the games would reach between $10,000 and $20,000, prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors also told the judge Richard Adams placed bets with Mitchell on sporting events, spending an average of about $5,000 a week.

They reported Richard Adams “unsurprisingly ... lost bets, paying tens of thousands of dollars to the defendant.”

They also reported Richard Adams has known “the defendant to be a ‘bookie' for about” 25 years.

Prosecutors also identified Richard Adams as the key witness in one of the money-laundering counts in the indictment. Prosecutors reported Richard Adams in 2009 “agreed to ‘loan' defendant $50,000, which Adams felt was strange because defendant always had cash. Mr. Adams wrote defendant a check for $50,000 and defendant paid him back with $50,000 in cash within a week.”