A. Lee Bentley, III

Arthur Lee Bentley III (born January 26, 1959) is an American lawyer who was the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2014 until 2017. In January 2018, he joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, a law firm which has an office based in Tampa, Florida.

Early life and education Bentley was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He graduated from the University of Georgia and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1983 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and an editor of the Virginia Law Review.

Career Following law school, Bentley clerked for Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. in the 1984 Term, and for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Clement Haynsworth. Bentley became the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. He was formally nominated by President Barack Obama in June 2014 on the bi-partisan recommendation of Florida's U.S. Senators, Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson. Bentley was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 16, 2014. In February 2017, Simmons pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to testify against Brown at her upcoming trial.