Complaint: Attorney targeted key witnesses

NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A federal complaint alleges lawyer Robert Simels of New York once attempted to have key trial witnesses either killed or bribed.

The 18-page legal document unsealed this week accused Simels, 61, of sending a government informant to kill a key witness in the trial of suspected drug lord Shaheed Khan, the New York Post said Thursday.

According to the complaint, Simels gave the unidentified informant a $1,000 down payment and informed him of the witness "John Doe No. 1," as the witness was identified in court papers.

The complaint alleges in a recording of the pair's June 19 conversation, Simels specifically told the informant not to kill the witness' mother.

"All (Khan) says is be careful," the complaint quotes Simels as allegedly saying. "He says don't kill the mother."

The Post said Simels was in federal court Wednesday to face a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice in relation to the alleged assassination order and for allegedly attempting to bribe another witness. He was released on $3.5 million bond pending a trial date.