KENDALL'S APPEAL REJECTED

A federal appeals panel has denied the appeal of suspended Atlanta
lawyer Alvin L. Kendall, convicted of conspiring to tip off a cocaine
dealer abouta federal drug raid.

Kendall, serving five years in federal prison after his March 1998
conviction, argued on appeal that his co-defendant, a Drug Enforcement
Administration special agent, wasn't convicted.

If the DEA insider was not guilty of conspiring, then there was no one
with whom Kendall could conspire, argued Kendall's lawyer, George O.
Lawson Jr.

Lawson also argued the government had insufficient evidence, the jury
was improperly instructed and Kendall's sentence was improperly calculated.

In all, Kendall was found guilty of one count of conspiring to giving
advance warning to a suspect about a government investigation and
raid, and one count of conspiring to help the same suspect distribute
five to 15 kilograms of cocaine.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel tersely denied all of
Kendall's claims in a three-page, double-spaced opinion, calling
"meritless" Kendall's accusation that his conviction should be
reversed because the DEA agent wasn't convicted. Judges Gerald B.
Tjoflat, Rosemary Barkett and Stanley F. Birch Jr. made the ruling.
U.S. v. Kendall, No. 98-9563, (U.S. 11th Cir. Nov. 23, 1999).

"It has always been the government's position that the evidence was
substantial and the case was prosecuted in a professional manner. The
11th Circuit obviously agreed," says Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis C.
Gordon, who argued the case at trial and on appeal.

Lawson, of Lawson & Thornton in Atlanta, did not return phone calls
for this story.

The 11th Circuit opinion marks the latest step in what was an unusual
prosecution before U.S. District Court Judge Jack T. Camp in 1998.

Kendall was indicted in 1997 on allegations that he sold advance word
to drug dealer Sam Carroll that the DEA was going to raid his two
homes and condominium in Lithonia and the Metropolis Club on Peachtree
Road in Atlanta. Kendall allegedly got his information from DEA
special agent Regina Bledsoe, who also was indicted.

In return for the tip, the government alleged Carroll gave Kendall an
undisclosed amount of cash as well as cars and a big-screen
television. Bledsoe received an unknown amount of money, the
indictment said.

The tip from Kendall allowed Carroll to stay in the drug business for
another two years before a successful raid, the government claimed.

Carroll had been Kendall's client in a traffic case and went on to
represent his family in business matters. Thanks to a tip from
Kendall, Carroll hid two cars at Kendall's home and stashed elsewhere
cash, drugs, jewelry, furs and other items specified in the warrant
before the 1994 drug raid, the government argued.

But when arrested in January 1997 on drug charges, Carroll informed
federal officials of Kendall's role.

Carroll then testified against Kendall to bolster the prosecution's
case. In return, Camp reduced Carroll's sentence by more than half to
12 years.

Bledsoe, the DEA agent charged with the same crimes as Kendall, was
acquitted in February 1998.

The same jury found Kendall innocent of tipping Carroll but guilty of
conspiring to do so. Jurors also decided Kendall conspired to aid
Carroll's drug operation.

After his sentence in December 1998, Kendall and his lawyer, Lawson,
objected to the verdicts, calling the jury decision illogical and
unsupported by the evidence. They also accused the government of
withholding discovery materials and the judge of not properly
instructing the jury on the theory of aiding and abetting.

The appeals panel disagreed. "We find no merit in Kendall's
contentions," the opinion says.