SECOND JUROR IN 1996 TRIAL GOT PAID TO ACQUIT ALLEGED DRUG KINGPINS

MIAMI (AP) -- A second juror was paid in exchange for a vote to acquit two
reputed drug kingpins in a 1996 federal trial, The Miami Herald reported
Saturday.

The existence of the second bribed juror was revealed Friday at a bond
hearing for Jorge Luis Hernandez, a friend of alleged cocaine lords Augusto
"Willie" Falcon and Salvador "Sal" Magluta.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis referred to recorded conversations
between Hernandez and a government informant in which they discussed
whether the second juror was cooperating or "spending money ridiculously,"
the Herald said.

The juror was not identified by the newspaper.

Last month, jury foreman Miguel Moya was convicted of taking $400,000 in
bribes for his vote.

Hernandez, 43, a former corrections officer at a federal jail, was released
on bond Friday. He was charged with conspiracy, money laundering and
witness tampering.

Hernandez was one of 12 alleged members of the Falcon-Magluta organization
named in a 46-count indictment unsealed Friday on charges of participating
in the conspiracy to obstruct justice on behalf of Magluta and Falcon.

In the new indictment, the pair is accused of ordering assassinations,
bribes, threats and committing perjury to escape drug charges.

Falcon and Magluta were acquitted in 1996 on charges they smuggled 75 tons
of Colombian cocaine into the country. Neither is a free man, however.

Magluta is serving a nine-year prison term for passport fraud. Falcon is
serving 10 years for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm at
the time of his drug arrest.