INFORMANT SAYS MILAN TIPPED OFF DRUG DEALERS

A witness in a trial testified that, while Milan was Council
president, he told ring leaders of scheduled raids.

Camden Mayor Milton Milan tipped off the reputed leaders of a
multimillion dollar drug ring of pending police raids in 1997 and
advised one of them that he was going to be arrested, an FBI informant
testified yesterday.

The informant, Juan Marquez, 36, also testified that he recorded a
uniformed Camden police officer telling reputed drug lord Jose Luis
"J.R." Rivera what information the officer had learned about a
narcotics investigation. In the tapes, which were at times difficult
to understand when played in the courtroom, a voice alleged to be that
of Police Officer Michael Hearnes was also heard urging Rivera not to
speak with narcotics investigators.

Marquez testified for a third day in U.S. District Court in Camden,
where Rivera, 40, and Luis "Tun Tun" Figueroa, 34, are on trial on
drug-conspiracy charges. Marquez became an informant in 1996 after he
was indicted on drug charges.

Rivera, authorities say, provided the money to buy drugs and laundered
the profits over a 10-year period, ending in 1998, that saw some drug
dealers earning as much as $40,000 a week. Figueroa allegedly was the
enforcer who carried out extreme violence for the organization.

Both men, who are in jail and face life sentences if convicted, have
denied they operated the drug ring.

Milan has not been charged with any crime, but his name has come up
over the last three weeks in testimony from four drug dealers and one
law-enforcement official. Two of the dealers identified Milan as a
bulk buyer of cocaine in 1993. At the time, he owned a construction
company.

Milan has denied any involvement with the drug organization.

Yesterday was the first time questions were raised about Milan's
conduct while he served as City Council president in 1996 and after he
was elected mayor on May 13, 1997. Milan was sworn in as mayor on July
1.

The conversations with Rivera in which Milan's name was mentioned were
recorded on May 15, June 3 and June 4, 1997.

It was during this time as City Council president that Milan was
working aggressively with city police to rid the city of drug dealers
and accompanied police on raids.

Ali Sloan-El, a city councilman, said in an interview yesterday that a
council president in Camden would not ordinarily be privy to
information from police regarding drug raids. Gwendolyn Faison, the
current council president who succeeded Milan in that role, could not
be reached for comment last night.

However, Marquez, under questioning by Assistant U.S Attorney Kevin
Smith, said Milan on several occasions passed on information about
drug raids to Rivera.

"He talks to Milton," Marquez testified yesterday of Rivera's
relationship with Milan. "He knows where Milton is and what drug set
he is going to be hitting."

On tape, speaking with Rivera on June 4, 1997, Marquez said, "Milton
picked the area to hit."

"We already know where he gonna hit at," Rivera responded.

"Yeah. . . . He gonna go and hit all the black guys. That's what he's
gonna do," Marquez said.

"He won't make it to mayor next, next time," Rivera
replied.

Milan's attorney, Carlos A. Martir Jr., who also represents Figueroa,
said in an interview that Marquez twisted facts and bolstered
allegations to help the government build its case against Milan. As
mayor, Milan has actively encouraged arresting drug dealers but was
never singled out on tape as tipping them off about raids, Martir said.

"Here's a guy [Marquez] who was wearing a wire. He is the one who is
acting," Martir said. "Milton Milan's name never comes out on tape as
the individual who tipped them off."

In August, federal and county authorities raided Milan's home and City
Hall office as part of a wide-ranging investigation of corruption
within Camden and the Milan administration.

In a recording made in June 1997, Rivera told Marquez that he was
concerned because Kenny "Blockhead" Waller had been arrested recently
on drug charges and authorities seized an expensive boat and truck
registered in Rivera's name. Rivera said Saul "Gordo" Febo should be
concerned because of information Waller could pass on to police.

Waller and Febo, who was subsequently arrested on drug charges, have
pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy but have not been sentenced yet.
Febo, who admitted he was one of the top leaders in the organization,
is expected to testify.

Febo, Rivera said on tape, left the area in 1997 because he was tipped
off that he was going to be arrested. Marquez asked how he knew, and
Rivera responded, "Man, he ran 'cause he had a connection inside, told
him what's up, that's why."

When asked by prosecutor Smith whether Rivera ever revealed who the
inside connection was, Marquez responded, "Milton Milan."

In a conversation later that day with Marquez and Hearnes, the police
officer, Rivera said he had talked to his lawyer. In that same
conversation, Hearnes said he spoke with a county officer whom he
identified by the nickname of "Cherry" about the investigation.
Hearnes told Rivera not to speak with authorities.

"Don't approach anybody about this. . . . Don't approach them at all.
Don't say . . . to them," Hearnes said. "Let them come to you."

Hearnes, 35, a 12-year police veteran, yesterday declined to talk
about the tape played in court.

Camden Police Chief Robert E. Allenbach and Camden County Prosecutor
Lee A. Solomon said they planned to review the court
transcripts.

"I will review the transcripts Monday and meet with the investigators
in the internal affairs unit and then make a decision," Allenbach
said. "I will not tolerate corruption within the police department,
and I will deal with it severely."

On the undercover tapes made by Marquez, Rivera is heard expressing
his dismay about flyers distributed in Camden when Milan was a
councilman and running for mayor. The leaflets identified Rivera and
Milan as drug dealers and said Milan protected the city's kingpins.

Marquez, testifying yesterday, said Rivera had one of the leaflets in
his desk at JR's Custom Auto Parts in East Camden and pulled it out
during their discussion.

"It could have been anybody," Rivera said about the source of the
flyers.

On the tape, the men talked about Milan's running for mayor and that
they had known he would win.

"Yeah that was funny," Marquez was heard saying to Rivera. "Remember
when Milan was begging you for money to put the houses together. And
now he's mayor."

Before Milan joined City Council, he had been co-owner of Atlas
Contracting Inc. In the mid-1990s, Atlas needed to raise collateral
for a government housing construction contract. Marquez testified
yesterday that Rivera put up $25,000.

Last month, Milan's business partner, Gholam Joseph Darakhshan, 30, of
Cherry Hill, was charged with conspiring to violate IRS regulations
for allegedly funneling large amounts of cash through others so it
could not be traced back to Rivera. Authorities said a total of
$60,000 was given to Milan and Darakhshan.

In the tapes played yesterday, Rivera was agitated as he believed
police were closing in on him. He warned Marquez that there would be a
massacre of those who betrayed him.

"The massacre, that I am going to do," Marquez said in Spanish. "Where
there is going to be several deaths. I going to do it to you. . . . I
am going to kill and I am leaving. . . . They never going to know I
did it."