Attorney and onetime judicial candidate Robert Arledge was indicted this morning on federal conspiracy charges, and FBI agents swarmed his Turning Leaf mansion home to execute federal property seizure warrants.

A federal grand jury accused Arledge, 48, of conspiring with others, not named, to submit false information so that plaintiffs, who falsely claimed they took the fen-phen diet drugs Pondimin and Redux, could share in settlement payments made by makers of the prescription drugs.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi announced the indictment, and the federal agents were removing small items from the home, which has been listed for sale for many months and is listed for $2 million.

The indictment charges that numerous plaintiffs shared in more than $8 million in payments as a result of submitting the false information and that Arledge, as an attorney, knew the claims were false.

Attorneys in the case were paid contingency fees, usually about a third of awards to their clients, plus expenses.

At the scene, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Keith Moses said more than a dozen agents were inside Arledge’s residence at 101 Golding Blvd., off Lee Road, and would remain there &#8220throughout the day.”

Arledge’s whereabouts could not be confirmed.

&#8220It’s safe to say he’s not at the residence this morning,” Moses said. A spokesman for the Madison County Detention Center, where people facing federal charges are often held, said Arledge was not there and had not been brought there.

The charges stem from a $150 million jury verdict in a 1999 lawsuit in Jefferson County against American Home Products, a pharmaceutical company that produced and distributed Pondimin and Redux.

To date, more than a dozen defendants have been indicted and admitted their claims submitted to the settlement pool were false. One received a jail sentence after admitting her claim was bogus and that she recruited others.

Arledge, a Vicksburg native, ran for Warren County Court judge in 2002. The winner of that contest was Vicksburg attorney John S. &#8220Johnny” Price Jr., who has since been re-elected to the post.

Arledge received his license to practice law in 1995 and formerly worked with the Swartz & Associates law firm in Jackson.

In addition to running against Price for county judge, Arledge asked then Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to be appointed Warren County prosecuting attorney to replace Price. He had also qualified to run for county prosecutor but withdrew from the race.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office gave no indication if the investigation was complete.

&#8220Other portions of the ongoing fen-phen investigation are being handled jointly by Fraud Section assistant chief Robertson Park, Fraud Section trial attorney Rina C. Tucker-Harris, Public Integrity Section trial attorney Nicholas Marsh and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Starrett in conjunction with agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations division, a news release said.