EAST ST. LOUIS — Gary Peel, a former lawyer at the powerful Lakin Law Firm in Wood River, was sentenced Monday to 12 years in federal prison for attempting to blackmail his ex-wife with decades-old nude photos of her teenage sister.

The sentencing hearing took an unusual turn when Peel launched into a stinging critique of his family, who he said led extravagant lifestyles off his hefty salary and then embarassed him by leaking personal information to a local legal publication.

Peel, 63, of Glen Carbon, did offer an apology for his affair with the sister, but quickly added that he didn’t think his actions were criminal.

Peel called his ex-wife, Deborah Peel, in January 2006 with a shocking revelation. He told her, according to an indictment, that he had had an affair with her teenage sister more than three decades earlier — and that he took nude pictures of the sister, which he would send to their elderly parents unless the ex-wife agreed to a settlement involving their divorce.
Advertisement

His ex-wife notified authorities and Peel was eventually indicted on charges of bankruptcy fraud, obstruction of justice and possession of child pornography.

The girl in the photos, now middle-aged and living in South Carolina, told the judge Monday that Peel is “a terrorist” who used his legal training to scare her sister.

“I fear Gary Peel not for myself, but for my loved ones,” she said.

Peel broke down crying twice while delivering his 45-minute statement.

“I have nothing left,” Peel said as he described the loss of his family, money and career.

Peel, before his indictment, was a respected trial lawyer who had won several million-dollar verdicts and had served as the village attorney for Glen Carbon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Burke said Peel was “the architect of his own demise.”

Peel, however, described himself as a victim of an overzealous prosecution, and went on to describe how the government is trying to indict his second ex-wife after she filed a police report this summer claiming a legal reporter tried to get her to buy off a juror in his March trial. The reporter denies the claim, and the government says it’s hearsay.

Peel, who has been in jail since his conviction, went on to say how his second ex-wife has been threatened repeatedly, including claims that a black cobra was planted in her bedroom and that a sniper took a shot at her along Interstate 57.

Federal officials have declined to comment about Peel’s claims. But Peel’s son, David Peel, said the family was satisfied with the sentence and that his father’s claims are inaccurate.
spacer