AGENT ACCUSED OF STEALING COCAINE

LOS ANGELES - A drug agent stole 650 pounds of cocaine from the
Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's Riverside office in 1997, making it
look like a forced burglary, a prosecutor said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lonergan presented a methodical
overview of evidence she said made it obvious that Richard Wayne
Parker was a dirty cop who stole the cocaine on July 4, 1997.

When Parker was arrested at his San Juan Capistrano home, authorities
found $600,000 in cash in some of the eight vehicles he had recently
purchased, the prosecutor said Tuesday in closing arguments.

"You have his spending which is way above his legitimate income," she
told jurors. "You have cocaine found in his gym bags. You have a whole
series of items found in his house that had cocaine on them."

Parker, 44, had been with the bureau for 10 years when he was arrested
last year. In addition to drug charges, he is accused of money
laundering and tax evasion.

Prosecutors contend he stole the cocaine and used a former girlfriend,
Monica Pitto, and two co-defendants to sell it.

Defense lawyer Richard Hamar said only tiny amounts of cocaine were
found in Parker's home, amounts that could be found in the home of any
drug agent who regularly handled narcotics.

Parker had a weakness for women and spent money on them but never
became a drug dealer, Hamar said. He said Parker's payments for such
things as a stripper's $1,000-a-month apartment don't make him a criminal.

"There is a neon sign blaring at you, 'Not guilty,"' he
said.

Ms. Pitto pleaded guilty to conspiracy and testified for the
prosecution that Parker sold her cocaine that she sold to others.

Parker testified during the six-week trial that Ms. Pitto, a former
banker, asked him to store large amounts of cash for her, assuring him
the money came from legitimate business transactions.