By BRENDAN KIRBY
Staff Reporter

Moments before his trial was to begin Wednesday in Mobile, an Axis man
pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal law enforcement officer who had
arrested him on drug charges a decade earlier.

In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge
against James Bruce Corley of attempted murder of a federal law
enforcement officer. They also said they would not seek new charges for
a federal firearms violation after they uncovered evidence that he
illegally has a shotgun.

Defense attorney Dom Soto said he felt his client stood a good chance to
beat the attempted murder charge, which he characterized as an
over-hyped response to what amounted to a bar fight between his client
and a former police officer in October.

"He was facing the uncertainty of an attempted murder (charge)," Soto
said. "You had all these kind of uncertainties."

What's more, Soto said, the agreement allows Corley to avoid
felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm charges. He said investigators found
out after Corley's arrest that he had pawned his father's shotgun, which
is illegal since the defendant is not allowed to have any firearm as a
result of his criminal record.

"They investigated this like it was the 9/11 case. They found out all
these things he's done," Soto said. "I'm surprised they didn't find out
he has an overdue library book."

Federal investigators accused Corley, 37, of confronting former Saraland
Officer Barry Foley in an Axis bar called the Feed Store on Oct. 26
after recognizing him as one of the officers who had arrested him in
1996. At that time, Foley was assigned to an FBI drug task force, which
made him a deputized federal law enforcement officer. He currently works
at the Shell chemical refinery in Saraland.

Foley told investigators that Corley accused him of ruining his life
because he was not allowed to hunt with his son as a result of the
firearms restrictions; the defendant served 90 days in jail after
pleading guilty in 1998 to the drug charge that Foley had investigated.
Foley said he left the bar to go home when he was hit from behind.

"The defendant attacked him in retaliation for his work on that case,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney George May told U.S. District Judge Kristi
DuBose on Wednesday.

Corley's sentencing hearing May 25 will be longer than normal so both
sides can argue about the specific circumstances surrounding the incident.

"We would differ with the government's offer of proof," Soto told
DuBose. "We maintain this was a bar fight between two men. They went
outside."

Soto had unsuccessfully sought the dismissal of the charges on grounds
that Foley did not meet the definition of a federal law officer. He
noted that Foley had not worked in law enforcement for nine years at the
time of the confrontation.

When Foley was on the job, Soto said, it was as a local police officer
assigned to an FBI task force. But it was the U.S. Postal Service that
ran the 1996 investigation, not the FBI.

Soto said in an interview that his cause also suffered when DuBose ruled
that he would not be able to tell a jury that Foley requested that
assault charges be filed against Corley in state court. Soto said that
cast doubt on the attempted murder charge, especially since a former
police officer would know the legal threshold for bringing the more
serious charge.

May said Foley's physical wounds -- which included many cuts about the
face and head -- have healed. But he said Foley missed three weeks of
work and still suffered psychological repercussions from the attack.

Corley faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, although his
actual punishment likely would be less under advisory sentencing
guidelines. His plea agreement came with no recommendation from
prosecutors on sentencing.

Soto said he would make a written request for his client to be released
from jail until his sentencing. A federal magistrate judge had ordered
him jailed pending trial. 

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