COOKE WIDOW LOSES LEGAL BATTLE

WASHINGTON, March 8 (UPI) - The widow of Washington Redskins owner
Jack Kent Cooke, Bolivian citizen Marlena Ramallo, has lost a
significant battle in her attempt to avoid deportation from the United
States.

The Supreme Court today rejected review in Ramallo's case, meaning
earlier deportation proceedings stand.

Ramallo's was one of a handful of cases acted upon today by the
Supreme Court in light of a decision last month that denied federal
court review of immigration proceedings.

Cooke's widow is a well-known and colorful figure in Washington
because of her immigration problems and her sometimes rocky
relationship with her late husband. Ramallo also was involved in a
high-profile dispute with the Cooke estate over the terms of her
pre-nuptial agreement.

In 1986, the Bolivian-born Ramallo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
distribute a small amount of cocaine and agreed to cooperate in a U.S.
investigation of Latin American drug dealers.

Though she claimed U.S. prosecutors agreed to recommend a suspended
sentence because of her cooperation, a federal judge sentenced her to
a year and a half in prison.

She was released after serving less than a third of that time.
However, upon her release, the Immigration and Naturalization Service
began deportation proceedings against her based on her crime.

In exchange for a government agreement to let her stay in the country
while she cooperated in drug investigations, Ramallo conceded her
deportability and waived an appeal within the immigration law judge
system.

Then in May 1988, the government ordered her deported. But in
accordance with the cooperation agreement, the INS took no steps to
remove her from the country, and in 1992 the INS filed a motion to
reopen deportation proceedings so Ramallo could reapply for special
consideration.

The Justice Department told the Supreme Court that even though an
immigration judge granted the request to reopen, Ramallo failed to
take advantage of the new chance. Eventually, the immigration judge
dismissed the matter for lack of action on Ramallo's part.

At that point, Ramallo appealed the dismissal to the Board of
Immigration Appeals, which dismissed her case. She then took her case
to federal court.

A federal judge ordered the government to honor its original agreement
and that ruling was appealed.

Meanwhile, President Clinton signed the 1996 Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act into law. The act denies
review by the federal courts of immigration proceedings.

Based on the new law, an appeals court then ruled that the federal
judge did not have jurisdiction to intervene in Ramallo's
deportation.

The appeals court verdict turned out to be a good predicter for
Supreme Court action in such cases. Two weeks ago, in a case involving
seven Palestinians and a Kenyan, the Supreme Court ruled that the law
applies to deportation proceedings that are already under way.

Today, the Supreme Court reversed several lower-court decisions that
had been in favor of aliens resisting deportation, based on last
week's decision, and let several cases stand in which the lower court
had ruled against an alien.

Ramallo's was among those cases denied review without comment. (No.
97-526, Ramallo vs. Reno and Meissner)