NO CHARGES FOR DRUG SUSPECTS SET UP BY SNITCH

U.S. prosecutors have quietly dropped cocaine charges against two Miami men
who were arrested last year in a sting set up by a government snitch who
over the span of 16 years got $2.2 million in fees and expenses from the
Drug Enforcement Administration.

Terrell King, 22, was freed late Friday, four months after his arrest,
federal public defender Michael Caruso told The Herald on Monday.

The dismissal, signed by Judge Alan Gold, was not yet part of the public
record at U.S. District Court on Monday. U.S. Attorney Tom Scott's office,
which had consistently refused comment on the King case as late as Friday,
confirmed the dismissal occurred but refused to explain why.

The case became emblematic of the drug agency's practice of employing and
paying informant Andrew Chambers for 16 years -- despite evidence that he
had repeatedly perjured himself in drug trials across the country.

Metro-Dade County police and drug agents arrested King and co-defendant
Donald St. Plite, 23, in October, after Chambers set up a sale of 11 kilos
of cocaine in a hotel parking lot near Miami International Airport.

St. Plite was still jailed Monday to face trial on another unrelated crime,
Caruso said. King, however, was "back at home with his family," which
includes three children.

"He's happy that this ordeal is finally over," he added.

While King was in jail awaiting trial, federal authorities decided in
February to deactivate Chambers because of evidence that he failed to admit
to criminal arrests and convictions while testifying on behalf of the U.S.
government.

DEA defends Chambers' work, saying he had a hand in 291 drug cases coast to
coast, 445 arrests and the seizure of about 1,200 kilos of cocaine.

Defense lawyers, however, maintain that a man with a pattern of perjury
could not be a reliable government witness.

Caruso said Scott's office provided no explanation to him Friday evening
when it suddenly arranged a conference call with Judge Gold to dismiss the
case.

"I wrote them a letter asking them to dismiss the case based on the
involvement of Andrew Chambers," Caruso said.

Was that their reason?

"They don't have to give an explanation," he replied. "And they didn't."

King, a former restaurant valet parking attendant, declined through his
lawyer a request to discuss the case with The Herald.

"He's grateful that the government won't rely on Andrew Chambers' lies
anymore to put people in jail," Caruso said.

U.S. Attorney's office spokeswoman Rosa Rodriguez was unavailable Monday to
provide details on a week-old request on whether other cases prosecuted by
Scott's office involved Chambers as well. Some defense lawyers believe that,
with the suspension of Chambers, other prosecutions may be challenged or
opened to challenge.