COEUR d'ALENE - Denver-area attorney Robert T. McAllister, who represented Sagle lawyer Edgar J. Steele in his murder-for-hire trial this spring in Boise, has been disbarred from practicing law by the Colorado Supreme Court.

Court documents, filed Monday with the presiding disciplinary judge for the Supreme Court, said McAllister deposited in his own account a check for more than $5,000 intended for a client.

The court documents said he used the money for his personal miscellaneous purposes.

An insurance company, against which he was representing his client, offered the money as a refund to the client.

His client didn't want to cash it, fearing that acceptance of the payment could be viewed as a waiver of claims against the insurance company.

McAllister had the insurance company cut another check, but with both his name and his client's name, and he deposited it into his own account.

In another incident, he took possession of $100,000 of a client's money and used it for his personal expenses without that client's authorization, according to court documents.

The effective date of the disbarment is July 8, the court's order said.

Steele was found guilty by a jury on all counts related to the plot to have his wife killed last year.

In an interview with The Press on Wednesday, Steele, 65, said he was very disappointed with his representation by McAllister. He declined to discuss specifics.

"I don't want to get into that," Steele said by phone from the Latah County jail.