FBI BRIBED WITNESS IN DRUG CASE, ATTORNEYS SAY

An FBI agent used a phony name to buy $1.25 million in cashier's
checks to try to hide a payment to the star witness against convicted
drug kingpin Juan Garcia Abrego, defense attorneys claim.

Attorneys Michael Pancer and Kent Schaffer said newly discovered
evidence contradicts Carlos Resendez's 1996 testimony that he was not
promised money for his testimony -- and bolsters the defense
contention that prosecutors suborned perjury.

That evidence includes a $1 million check payable to Resendez and a
$250,000 check to his former mistress, Noema Quintanilla, defense
attorneys claimed in court filings.

The receipt shows that FBI agent Peter Hanna purchased the checks
March 13, 1998, but both list the purchaser as Peter Hanlon.

"It is certainly to be noted that the remitter's name was disguised to
be other than Agent Hanna's and that the payment was tendered to
Resendez only after Mr. Abrego's appeal was submitted for decision,"
defense attorneys said in asking U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein for
a hearing.

The checks support Resendez's recent admission that prosecutors
encouraged him to lie about the money he was promised and entitle
Garcia Abrego to a hearing, Schaffer said.

South Texas College of Law Professor Neil McCabe, an expert on federal
court procedure, said Garcia Abrego should receive a new trial if
Resendez knew when he testified that he would be paid $1 million.

"Witnesses, like expert witnesses, are often paid," McCabe said. "But
if an agreement was in place at the time of trial, the defense should
have known. Knowing that an underworld figure was paid $1 million is a
very powerful cross-examination tool for the defense."

Prosecutors have not directly addressed the allegations by Garcia
Abrego's attorneys. Instead, they gave a blanket denial of any misconduct.

They also said the court was informed that Resendez was not promised
anything other than his security and had not applied for a reward. But
their 150-page brief never said if he was paid a reward.

Resendez, one of only two witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the
drug cartel's inner workings, testified that he was promised no money
for his testimony. But sources say he now says U.S. agents promised
him $2 million to be the government's star witness.

Schaffer said Resendez has recanted because prosecutors paid him only
half of the amount promised.

Defense attorneys said in court documents that Resendez now admits his
trial testimony was replete with lies -- all sanctioned by
prosecutors. They told Werlein that Resendez is now willing to tell
the truth at a hearing.

Defense attorneys said Resendez has contradicted his trial testimony
on at least two points:

That his former mistress, Quintanilla, not he, arranged for Garcia
Abrego's arrest, and that he lied when he testified he was not
promised any money by the U.S. government for his testimony.

The second check to Quintanilla may lend credence to part of the
claim. Her role was never mentioned at Garcia Abrego's trial.

Garcia Abrego was convicted of drug trafficking, conspiracy, money
laundering and operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and
sentenced to 11 life terms in 1997.

Resendez testified that he helped arrange drug deals and was aware of
murder plots and bribes to top Mexican government officials.

He also testified that "they" told him the United States was offering
a $2 million reward for information leading to Garcia Abrego's arrest
and conviction but that he was promised nothing except "security" for
himself and his family.

Schaffer said the recent spate of cases in which federal prosecutors
are known to have withheld evidence suggests their actions deserve
closer scrutiny.

Werlein could decide within 30 days.