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BRIEF: U.S. District Attorney Johnny Sutton says "Blackmail is always wrong, but it is particularly despicable when it has the potential to effect the election of the highest official in the state of Texas." He was referring to the recent guilty plea of Micheal Morales in a federal court in San Antonio. Morales, the brother of democratic gubernatorial primary candidate and former Texas attorney general Dan Morales, pled guilty to attempting to extort $280,000 from his brother's opponent, Tony Sanchez. Michael Morales attempted to blackmail Sanchez by releasing information that Sanchez had committed a felony while he was a law student at Saint Mary's University in San Antonio. Micheal Morales admitted to calling the Sanchez campaign and also sending them a fax regarding the terms of the proposed deal. According to reports, Morales attempted to sell the same information to Governor Rick Perry's campaign in April of last year. Federal agents were alerted to the extortion plot by the Sanchez campaign. After a raid on Michael Morales' business, they found handwritten notes detailing the extortion scheme and phone cards used to make the threatening calls. For several years, Dan Morales has been the focal point of a federal investigation looking into his handling of the state's litigation with tobacco companies while he was attorney general. He later supported Rick Perry for governor. He had no comment after his brother's guilty plea. Michael Morales will be sentenced on April 11. Robert Cardenas, KPFT News, Houston. E-mail Robert Cardenas at robertc@amerion.com . This story was broadcast on February 28, 2003.