An Atlanta attorney who says he was lured to Prichard, Alabama under the pretense of helping a client buy a strip club has filed a federal lawsuit claiming local police officers planted drugs in his rental car, had him jailed on trafficking charges, and only let the case fall apart after prosecutors reviewed body camera footage. Terry Bailey says he spent two or three days behind bars before Mobile County prosecutors dropped the charges against him.
Bailey, an Atlanta attorney whose work includes hospitality, licensing, zoning and regulatory matters, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the entire episode felt like a movie plot, saying the police search of his rental car was a setup he never consented to. He was accompanied at the time by his driver, Brandon Tatum, who was also arrested in connection with the incident and later had his charges dropped by Mobile County prosecutors, according to Atlanta Black Star.
According to the newspaper’s reporting, officers who searched the rental car reported finding a bag containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, leading to Bailey’s arrest on drug trafficking charges. Atlanta Black Star reports the exact quantities recovered were 124 grams of methamphetamine and 19 grams of a fentanyl mixture — weights severe enough to trigger high-bond felony charges carrying the threat of lengthy prison sentences.
How the Drugs Allegedly Got Into the Car
Court filings summarized by 1819 News allege that a passenger placed drugs in Bailey’s rental car. The same filings allege that former officer Emanuel Dotch II instructed another officer to stop Bailey’s vehicle on the claim that drugs and guns were inside — but that officer later told federal investigators he tried to stall the stop because he believed it would be bad, per the outlet’s account of the complaint…