EX-AGENT ACQUITTED ON COCAINE CHARGES

Courts: But Richard Wayne Parker of San Juan Capistrano was convicted of
tax evasion.

Los Angeles-A former state drug agent accused of stealing 650 pounds of
cocaine was convicted of tax evasion and was convicted of tax drug charges
and a money-laundering charge, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday.

U.S.District Judge A. Howard Matz declared a mistrial on four remaining
charges, which included burglary and possession of drugs with intent to
sell, after the jury deadlocked on those counts.

Richard Wayne Parker, 44, will remain in custody until July 6, when he is
scheduled to reappear for a court hearing, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman
Thom Mrozek said. Prosecutors are expected to announce at that time whether
Parker will be retried.

Sentencing on the tax-evasion conviction was not immediately set.

The tense jury deliberations, lasting two weeks, included a flare-up in
which some jurors had to be restrained from fighting one another. The jury
last week found two co-defendants not guilty and reached verdicts on four
of the eight charges against Parker, but the verdicts weren't unsealed
until Friday.

The judge ordered the jurors to return for deliberations this week on the
four counts, but declared the mistrial after they said they were unable to
reach a unanimous decision.

Two jurors said as they left the courthouse that they were dead-locked 11-1
in favor of acquitting Parker on the remaining charges.

Parker was accused of stealing the cocaine from the state Bureau of
Narcotics Enforcement's Riverside office on the Fourth of July weekend in
1997, making the theft look like a forced burglary. The prosecution said he
sold the cocaine through several "conduits."

Prosecutors said officers who arrested Parker at his San Juan Capistrano
home found $600,000 in cash in some of the eight vehicles he had recently
bought.

Defense attorney Richard Hamar contended during the trial that drug
informants were trying to frame Parker, who was a drug agent for 10 years.

The defense argued that only a minuscule amount of cocaine was found in
Parker's gym bags - an amount that could be found in the home of any drug
agent who regularly handles narcotics.