4 PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN DRUG CASE TO TURNPIKE SLAYINGS

FORT PIERCE - The defendants sat in the courtroom only for a few
minutes Monday afternoon, but friends and family members still packed
the room for the brief chance to see and support the four people
facing federal drug charges in a case that was borne from an
investigation into a quadruple murder along Florida's Turnpike.

The three men, a 23 year old, a 26 year old, and a 20 year old, along
with an 18-year-old female, all pleaded not guilty to a charges of
conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. A fifth co-defendant in the
case, a Male, 23, already entered his not guilty plea last week. Family slain

While they have not been charged in the homicide case, investigators
have said that four are connected the Oct. 13 slaying of Jose Luis
Escobedo Jr., 28, his wife, Yessica, 25, and two sons, Luis Julian,
4, and Luis Damian, 3. The family was found shot to death on the side
of the turnpike in Port St. Lucie. The 20 year old male is not
connected to the killings, officials have said.

Family and friends who showed up to watch the brief arraignment
hearings at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce on Monday declined
to comment.

The females attorney, Ronald Chapman, said her family believes she is
innocent and made the trip from their home in West Palm Beach to show
her they support her.

"They're all very behind her," Chapman said. "Now that they've been
arraigned, maybe we'll start to see what the evidence is." As far as
an alleged connection to the homicide case, Chapman stressed none of
the defendants has yet been charged in it, and he declined to comment further.

"I don't think her family is happy that she's been dragged into all
that," Champan said of his client. "They're very concerned about
her." An attorney for the female, who also filled in at Monday's
hearing for The 23 year old and the 26 year old's attorneys, declined
to comment.

The federal drug case began after investigators searched the rented
Greenacres home where the Escobedo family lived. They found evidence
that Jose Luis Escobedo Jr. was trafficking cocaine from the home,
according to court documents.

Alleged drug ledgers and other items at the home lead them to the
West Palm Beach home where investigators allege the five defendants
were living. Inside that home, they found a large amount of drugs and
14 guns. They also found masks, gloves, wigs and a night scope,
prosecutors have said.

Officials at the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office say the homicide
investigation is still ongoing, and they have released no new
information. A magistrate judge Monday set a status hearing in the
drug case for Dec. 13.