DRUG TRAFFICKER SEEKING RELEASE

Abello Says A Key Witness Lied At His Trial

A Colombian man who was convicted of drug charges in a high-profile case
here nine years ago asked Friday to be freed based on what he claims is
recently discovered evidence that government officials knew a key
prosecution witness was lying in court.

In a new case filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, Jose Rafael
Abello Silva claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency knew that trial
witness Gary Wayne "Hippie" Betzner was not telling the truth when he
testified about Betzner's supposed involvement with the agency during the
1980s.

Abello was convicted in 1990 of conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana
and conspiracy to possess the drugs with intent to distribute. He was
sentenced to concurrent 30- year prison terms on each count and fined $5
million. His conviction was affirmed on appeal in 1991.

In February 1997, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused Abello's
request for a new trial.

Tulsa attorney Rabon Martin said he became Abello's new lawyer after
visiting him at a Texas prison one year ago to bring to his attention a
declassified CIA report that had been released in October 1998 and shortly
thereafter was published on the Internet. The report is titled "Allegations
of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the
United States."

It contains what Martin termed "bombshell" revelations about what both the
CIA and the Department of Justice apparently knew about Betzner's credibility.

Betzner, a pilot, told jurors during the 1990 trial that he had encountered
Abello at Colombian airfields where he picked up marijuana. He said he had
picked up 15 5,000-pound loads of quaaludes from Abello and that he
delivered $500,000 and several crates of guns to Abello.

Betzner had already received a 27-year prison sentence of his own by the
time he testified at Abello's trial. Betzner -- who had previously
testified at the Iran-Contra hearings -- claimed that he had airlifted guns
the CIA was sending to El Salvador and Costa Rica for the Contra rebels in
Nicaragua. He claimed that he transported drugs on his flights home with
the agency's knowledge.

Betzner told the court that he had various CIA contacts in the 1980s but
testified: "I'm not giving you their names unless I'm killed. Then you'll
get them."

In May 1990, U.S. Senior District Judge Thomas R. Brett said in court that
he would "much prefer" to keep "all this CIA connection business" out of
the case but said he would allow it in to test the believability of
prosecution witnesses.

Martin claims that the October 1998 CIA report shows that the CIA had
concluded before the trial that Betzner had not worked for the CIA in any
capacity and that it had conveyed that conclusion to the FBI.

The CIA, he claims, had decided that it was an "absolute impossibility" for
Betzner to fly his Cessna 402 airplane onto the Costa Rican 1,500-foot
grass airstrip.

Martin said Friday that he is not accusing then-U.S. Attorney Tony Graham
or then-Assistant U.S. Attorney David O'Meilia of knowingly using false
testimony.

But Martin said that, because at least some governmental agents apparently
knew of Betzner's supposed lack of credibility, the government had a
collective duty to turn over the information to defense counsel.

Graham and O'Meilia -- both in private practice now -- declined to comment
Friday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Litchfield indicated that he has seen the new
case but said he would have no comment at this time.

Besides the claims about Betzner, Friday's complaint also attacks the
credibility of another prosecution witness, Boris Olarte Morales.

Martin also makes arguments that aren't new. But the attorney said those
claims are revitalized when combined with the "newly discovered evidence."

Even if this effort fails, Martin said, Abello figures to be eligible for
parole soon. His case predates legislation that abolished federal parole.