INDICTMENT TIES LAWYER TO ALLEGED DRUG CONSPIRACY

Esper, 3 Others Face Charges

A federal grand jury indicted an El Paso lawyer for alleged conspiracy to
distribute cocaine, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

The indictment charges lawyer Mitchell "Mickey" Esper, 63, with six counts,
including allegedly participating in a conspiracy to possess more than 5
kilograms of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute it.

Esper could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Authorities allege that in November and December 1998, Esper served as an
intermediary between Martin Camarena, also known as "Ochenta" (Eighty) of
Juarez, and an El Paso County inmate in the attempted recovery of the
cocaine.

Also charged in the conspiracy count were Camarena and two other people who
are known only by their first names, Raul and Arturo, said assistant U.S.
Attorney Bryan Best, who is prosecuting the case.

"It is important to note that an indictment is merely a charge and should
not be considered as evidence of guilt," he said in a news release.

Esper is expected to surrender to authorities by week's end, Best said.
Warrants are pending on the other defendants.

If convicted of the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces between 10 years
and life in a federal prison.

In addition, Esper was charged with four counts of use of a "communication
facility," in this case a telephone, to facilitate the possession of a
controlled substance and one count of "misprision of felony."

The misprision-of-felony count alleges that Esper knew that a
drug-trafficking felony had occurred, and even assisted in taking possession
of the controlled substance from another person, yet failed to make that
information known to law-enforcement officers.

If convicted, Esper faces up to four years in federal prison per telephone
count and up to three years on the misprision-of-felony count.

The case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration special agents,
the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service and the
El Paso County Sheriff's Department.

Esper, a native of Pennsylvania, has been in El Paso since 1945. He
graduated from El Paso High and UTEP, and obtained a law degree from the
University of Houston in 1962. He has been in private practice in El Paso
ever since.