MISTRIAL DECLARED IN CASE OF JURY FOREMAN ACCUSED OF TAKING BRIBE

MIAMI -- A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of a jury foreman
charged with selling his vote in a major cocaine-smuggling case after jurors
said they were "at each other's throats."

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King dismissed the jury in the trial of
Miguel "Mike" Moya, who was accused of taking a nearly $500,000 bribe to
sell his vote in a 1996 verdict.

Jurors sent a note to King on Thursday, after four days of deliberations,
saying they disagreed about whether Moya is innocent or guilty.

"We are unable to come to a unanimous decision," jury foreman Carlo Hollis
said in the note. "We are at each other's throats . . . HELP!!!" He wrote
that the jury had been split evenly before shifting to a majority favoring
one side.

King asked jurors Friday if there was any chance of reaching a verdict. They
said no. Prosecutors had no comment except to say they would try the case
again in April.

The voting breakdown of the jury was not disclosed. King told the jurors
that if they receive any telephone calls or inquiries about their
deliberations, they should say nothing.

Moya was charged with money laundering, witness tampering, conspiracy and
bribery and could face life in prison. His parents, Jose and Rafaela Moya,
were on trial on money laundering, witness tampering and accessory charges
and faced up to 62 1/2 years in prison.

Prosecutors contended Moya took the money to vote innocent and persuade
others to do the same in the trial of reputed drug kingpins Augusto "Willie"
Falcon and Salvador "Sal" Magluta. The two were acquitted in February 1996
of charges they smuggled 75 tons of cocaine from Colombia into the U.S.

About the time of the trial, Moya and his parents began living in luxury,
buying a home in the Florida Keys, a two-week vacation in Hawaii, season
tickets to the Florida Marlins, tickets for the World Series and other
items.

Attorneys for the Moya family said the family's wealth came not from any
bribe but from a cousin, Ramon "Ray" Perez, a convicted drug smuggler and
former Miami police officer.

Perez, who served 4 years in prison for drug trafficking, testified that he
paid $385,000 to Moya and family members to deliver cocaine and $100,000 to
store 880 pounds of the drug.

"The Moya family has a past that they are not proud of," defense attorney
Curt Obront said in his opening argument.

The Falcon-Magluta jurors had deliberated for three days when they sent a
note to the judge saying they were locked in a "personal conflict" and
"could not reach a verdict." Hours later, they returned the acquittals.