An Alabama lawyer with roundabout connections to our Legal Schnauzer story was found dead at a Shelby County construction site late yesterday morning.
The body of Chace William Swatek, 35, was found behind a stack of metal pipes near the Shelby County Services Building in Pelham. Law-enforcement officials say the cause of death is not known, but they do not suspect foul play.
Swatek had powerful family ties to the Alabama Republican Party. His older brother, Dax, is head of the lobbying/consulting firm Swatek Azbell Howe & Ross. Dax Swatek was 2006 campaign manager for former GOP Governor Bob Riley--he of the ties to GOP felons Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon--and is a protege of Bill Canary, president of the Business Council of Alabama. Canary, of course, is the husband of Leura Canary, Bush-era prosecutor in the Don Siegelman case and instigator of the federal bingo prosecution, which is being retried at this moment in Montgomery. Dax Swatek also played a prominent early role in the bingo fiasco. (More on that in a moment.)