The Mississippi Supreme Court in Jackson has agreed to an indefinite suspension of the license of lawyer Robert Arledge, of Vicksburg, while Arledge appeals his 2007 conviction related to an investigation of false diet drug settlement claims in Mississippi.

Arledge was convicted in federal court of seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud in a scam bilking the drug company Wyeth out of more than $6.7 million. He was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

Arledge had been charged with knowingly allowing clients to make fen-phen claims of about $250,000 each, even though they had no legitimate reason.

Fen-phen was a prescription diet drug pulled from the market in 1997 after research revealed it could cause heart problems.

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