A predatory towing case in Mobile has taken another turn, this time ending up in federal court.

On Tuesday, a pretrial conference was held in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama for Michael Cazzie Sellers, who owns Rapid Towing and Anytime Towing. In December, a federal grand jury indicted him on 14 counts of wire fraud and making a false statement on a bankruptcy petition. A trial is expected to take place in March.

This is the latest legal difficulty for Sellers, who is also facing a civil lawsuit in Mobile County Circuit Court. In 2019, then-Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich filed a lawsuit against Sellers, alleging that Sellers and his now-estranged wife Heather engaged in “predatory towing” practices by forcing people to sign agreements absolving the company of legal liability, sometimes in the presence of openly armed employees.

The local case is still ongoing and is currently in the discovery phase. But the allegations in that case also led to criminal charges against Sellers, including two counts of motor vehicle theft that were dropped last year. Mobile County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Tara Zieman said that the outcome of the federal case has no bearing on the local case.

Federal case