Wichita ? A disbarred attorney and his wife, who used to serve immigrants in southwest Kansas, face federal charges for allegedly filing forged documents with U.S. authorities.

James Phillips, who previously practiced in Liberal, Garden City, Wichita and Great Bend, made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in Wichita and pleaded not guilty. His wife, Alicia Morales-Phillips, 53, was arrested July 14 in Texas and has not appeared in Kansas court yet.

U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren in January filed eight felony counts against Phillips and Morales-Phillips, charging them with filing false documents with the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He also filed another eight counts, charging each with creating false immigration documents.

The indictments against the couple, who federal authorities said last lived in Mesquite, Texas, had been sealed since January, but they were released last week after Phillips’ arrest.

Phillips, 62, is now free on $10,000 bond and a new court date has not been set. His lawyer, Dan Monnat, said Phillips is back in Wichita and will “vigorously” defend himself against the charges.

Federal authorities allege that Phillips and his wife presented seven applications for alien employment certification bearing forged signatures. They say the two also filed an application for asylum with a forged signature.

Phillips had served Kansas’ immigrant population, and his wife worked alongside him. In 2004, however, the Kansas Supreme Court disbarred Phillips, stemming in part from his apparent mishandling of four immigration cases.

A state disciplinary body charged he incompetently represented clients, did not keep them up to date on their cases and failed to refund legal fees when required.

The Kansas attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against Morales-Phillips in 2004, alleging she misrepresented herself as an attorney. The lawsuit claimed she took advantage of her customers’ lack of English skills and understanding of U.S. law, filing legal documents on their behalf that contained mistakes.

Morales-Phillips never responded to the suit, and a judge in Barton County District Court issued a default judgment, ordering her to pay $700,000.

A spokeswoman in the attorney general’s office said state prosecutors still are searching for the woman’s assets so they can collect.