A federal court set an Aug. 13 trial date for Mike Hockett Jr., president of Tidewater Auto Auction in Chesapeake, VA, who is accused of allegedly trying to bribe a city council member into changing his vote on a rezoning case. Hockett is allegedly accused of trying to extort the vote of Suffolk City Councilman E. Dana Dickens III, considered the chief opponent to a rezoning request Hockett made in order to build a new auction in Suffolk. Court documents allege that Hockett hired two men to photograph Dickens in a compromising position with an exotic dancer in early April. A federal court arrested Hockett on April 17 and charged him with conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, bribery, use of an interstate facility with intent to promote unlawful activity and use of an interstate facility to threaten the reputation of another. If convicted of the two most serious charges, conspiracy and extortion, he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and fines of about $1.7 million. Hockett is the son of Mike Hockett Sr., founder of Auction Broadcasting Co., an Indianapolis-based auction chain. ABC Auctions had licensed the rights to its name to Mike Hockett Jr.’s auction, which carried the name ABC Tidewater. Days after Hockett’s arrest, he asked ABC Auctions to cancel the agreement, and the auction reverted to its original name – Tidewater Auto Auction.