U.S. JURY CONVICTS COCAINE KINGPIN

Drug kingpin Nate Hill was convicted Monday by a federal jury of
supplying more than 3 tons of cocaine to two of Chicago's largest
street gangs, the Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords, for nearly a decade.

Hill was also found guilty of ordering hits on three enemies; two were
killed, but the third survived despite being shot several times in the
head, authorities said.

The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated over four days before
convicting Hill on seven counts of narcotics conspiracy, tax fraud,
money laundering and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. He
was acquitted of one count of money laundering, and the jury was
unable to reach a verdict on a drug count.

Co-defendant Cordell "Break" James, a worker in Hill's drug
organization who took part in the unsuccessful hit, was also convicted
of one count of narcotics conspiracy.

Two dozen others had previously been convicted for their roles in
Hill's drug organization, which continued operating for six months in
1996 after he was charged and fled the country, authorities said.

After a long search, Hill, one of the Top 15 Most Wanted fugitives
sought by the U.S. Marshal's Service, was arrested in early 1998 in
the west African nation of Guinea, operating a successful coffee business.

Both Hill and James face mandatory sentences of life imprisonment when
they are sentenced Sept. 2 by U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras,
according to prosecutors Colleen Coughlin and Daniel Gillogly.

While both defendants had court-appointed attorneys, they took large
roles in defending themselves, delivering all or part of their closing
arguments to jurors last week.

To make sure jurors realized they were in custody in the Metropolitan
Correctional Center, each forsook street clothes and wore orange
prison jumpsuits throughout the eight-week trial.

Hill, 32, born and raised on the South Side, took the witness stand in
his own defense, admitting he sold cocaine out of his garage in the
mid-to late 1980s.

He contended he quit the business in mid-1990--which if true would
have put his drug-dealing outside the statute of limitations and the
reach of prosecutors.

Hill denied he sold cocaine to the gangs, instead describing his
clients during his testimony as "regular individuals that was just
trying to make money and, you know, provide for their family."

But prosecutors argued that between 1987 and June 1996, Hill's
organization distributed well in excess of 3,000 kilograms of cocaine
in the Chicago area.

Coughlin said Hill wasn't hesitant to use violence to further the
conspiracy.

Twice, he used underlings to shoot men who had threatened to kidnap
Hill or his family for ransom, trial evidence showed. James Moore was
killed in 1992, but James' murder attempt of Phillip Thomas in 1994
failed.

Hill was also convicted of ordering the slaying in 1994 of Robert
Franklin, one of his workers who he suspected of stealing $100,000 in
drug money.

In denying the latter hit, Hill testified, "A hundred thousand dollars
is no money really to me or to Robert."

The drug riches brought Hill wealth and comfort, according to
testimony.

In 1995 alone, he went on a more than $2 million buying spree,
purchasing an eight-seat aircraft, a 73-foot yacht, a luxury speedboat
and a house near Kankakee with an indoor pool and private lake,
authorities said.

That same year, agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administrationand local police recovered more than $2.8 million in
cash of Hill's concealed in the trunk of a car in a storage facility
in Alsip.

Prosecutors also alleged that Hill bought a Chicago bus company,
America Tour and Travel, with drug proceeds and laundered additional
money there. He also used cocaine profits to found Pocketown, which
produced records and managed musical talent, authorities said.

Hill also alleged he invested more than $700,000 in drug profits to
finance a movie called "Reasons," which is believed to be loosely
based on Hill's life story.

In the movie, though, the bad guys reportedly win in the
end.