KINGPIN'S CO-DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY

MIAMI -- A co-defendant of a former Medellin drug cartel kingpin pleaded
guilty Tuesday to helping launder profits from drugs shipped to the United
States and Mexico.

Hernan Abelardo Gomez Moreno came to court a day after Fabio Ochoa, a
one-time leader of the cartel, made his first appearance in the case. Ochoa
is accused of running a 30-ton-a-month smuggling operation in 1998 and 1999.

Gomez, 43, a Colombian citizen extradited to the United States, was accused
of picking up drug money in Colombia and converting it from dollars to pesos.

Prosecutor Glenn Alexander said evidence against Gomez included taped phone
calls and the testimony of participants who are now cooperating with
investigators.

The hearing on Gomez's plea was one of the few sessions completed before
the city's federal courthouse complex was closed in response to the
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The money laundering conspiracy count against Gomez carries a possible
20-year sentence. Defense attorney Jon May said he expects Gomez to serve
about another 30 months, based on credit for time behind bars since his
arrest in 1999.

May declined to say whether Gomez's plea bargain requires him to help
prosecutors in their case against Ochoa and other defendants.