WITNESS: JUROR GOT DRUG CASH, NOT BRIBE

A cousin of accused jury fixer Miguel Moya flirted with more felony charges
of his own Friday when he swore Moya's sudden wealth was not from a
defendants' bribe but instead from a massive 1980s drug smuggling
conspiracy.

Ramon de Jesus Perez -- a former Miami police officer convicted of drug
smuggling in 1989 -- testified Friday that he paid Moya and his father,
Jose, about $500,000 to transport illegal cash and store cocaine in the
1980s.

The detailed admissions were part of a startling defense tactic to explain
the Moya family's lavish spending spree after the 1996 acquittals of
suspected drug kingpins Willie Falcon and Sal Magluta.

The 43-year-old Perez -- at times striking a confrontational attitude with
federal prosecutors -- acknowledged he lied to a grand jury investigating
Moya in August and to federal agents who years ago used him as a witness to
break a ring of drug smugglers.

"Yes, I lied," Perez said on cross-examination from an incredulous Assistant
U.S. Attorney Ed Nucci. "How many times do you want me to say I lied? I was
protecting my family. I'm very close to my family, sir."

Perez's request for immunity was denied by U.S. District Judge James
Lawrence King, leaving him exposed to possible perjury charges.

Miguel Moya -- who was chosen jury foreman at the Falcon/Magluta trial -- is
now on trial himself in U.S. District Court, charged with taking a bribe
from the Falcon/Magluta organization, money laundering, tax evasion and
witness tampering.

His parents, Jose and Raphaela Moya, are charged with helping him try to
hide upward of $400,000 in bribe money.

Defense attorneys Paul McKenna, Curt Obront and Ana Jhones argue the
prosecution's theory of a jury-fixing bribe is wrong and that the Moyas
can't be charged in the drug conspiracy because the five-year statute of
limitations has expired.

So far, seven jurors and the judge from the 1996 trial have testified. Moya
was among three jurors who originally voted for acquittal. The remaining
nine were worn down after three days of deliberations.

The case presented by Nucci and fellow prosecutors Julia Paylor and Kathleen
Rice focuses mostly on the sudden spending habits of the Moya family after
the Feb. 16, 1996, verdict.

A family of once-meager earnings suddenly began paying the mortgage and
credit-card bills with thousands in cash. They bought a $198,000 home in the
Keys and paid it off in less than six months. They paid cash for a $32,000
motorboat.

The case also focuses on alleged money laundering, with the Moyas going to
relatives and friends, giving them cash and asking them to write checks for
a "vacation home."

One of those relatives was Ramon Perez, who contributed $17,500 to the
vacation home in Tavernier.

Perez, a Miami police narcotics officer from 1980 to 1984, quit the force to
begin smuggling Colombian cocaine through Mexico with his brother-in-law, he
testified Friday. He was one of dozens of Miami police officers who were
investigated as part of the infamous Miami River cops scandal in the late
1980s.

In 1989, he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and
was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. That sentence was reduced to
four years after Perez turned government informant and testified at the
trials of others.

Perez has admitted that he and other former Miami police officers were
responsible for about 10 shipments of cocaine -- 400 to 500 kilograms
each -- in secret compartments of mobile homes driven across the Mexican
border.

He testified that he paid Miguel and Jose Moya $30,000 per trip to drive the
drug cash back to the Mexican border. He said there were about 15 trips. He
also testified he paid the Moyas $100,000 to store cocaine and cash in a
floor safe at their Miami home.

Perez was released from federal prison in September 1991. He testified he
asked the Moyas not to spend any of the money until his probation was
concluded.

"I didn't want any of it to come back to me," he said. "I didn't want my
probation officer to find out."

Nucci grilled Perez about the lies. For instance, Perez acknowledged he lied
when he was debriefed in 1989 about other members of the drug conspiracy and
left out his family.

"The agents made it clear to me they weren't interested in anyone below me,"
he said. "They only wanted information on people at my level or higher."

He also admitted he misled the grand jury last year when he said the $17,500
he contributed to the Tavernier home was from legal sources.

"I was led to believe we were only talking about this bribe situation," he
said.

Nucci also attempted to find the missing link in his case -- the
intermediary between Moya and the Magluta/Falcon organization.

Asked whether Falcon and Magluta were among his drug acquaintances, Perez
said no. Asked whether he was aware the same prosecutor who convicted him
was also the prosecutor at the Falcon/Magluta trial, Perez said he was aware
of it, "but I didn't care."

Asked whether he ever discussed the case with his cousin the jury foreman,
Perez acknowledged one brief conversation about the common prosecutor, "but
it was more of a joke."

Defense attorney McKenna accused Nucci of trying to insinuate that Perez was
the intermediary on the bribe with no evidence. Cross-examination of Perez
will continue Tuesday, expected to be the last day of testimony at the
trial.