JURY FOREMAN ACCUSED OF ACCEPTING A BRIBE

A jury foreman accused of accepting a $500,000 bribe in a 1996 cocaine
smuggling trial got money to fund his lavish lifestyle from a relative
convicted of drug trafficking, his attorney said Wednesday in Miami.

Prosecutors say Miguel Moya was able to buy a home in the Florida Keys, a
Hawaiian vacation, a sports car and a boat after being paid to acquit two
men who were charged with making $2 billion off Colombian cocaine.

Defense attorney Curt Obront said in his opening statement that Moya really
was bankrolled by Ramon "Ray" Perez, a former Miami police officer who
asked Moya's father to hide proceeds from a drug operation in the late 1980s.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Nucci countered that Moya ignored a judge's
order not to have any contact with defendants Augusto "Willie" Falcon and
Salvador "Sal" Magluta - alleged to be the nation's top cocaine smugglers
during the 1980s.