TRIAL DATE SET IN MASSIVE CASE ON DRUG SALES, MONEY LAUNDERING

* A Federal Judge Arraigns 16 Defendants On Charges Including Conspiracy To
Traffic In Crack Cocaine, Money Laundering And Gun Offenses

A massive crack cocaine and money laundering case marched forward Tuesday
when a federal judge arraigned 16 co-defendants and tentatively scheduled a
six-week trial to begin in mid-September.

A federal grand jury has charged a total of 23 people in the case. Five
co-defendants have pleaded guilty, including Daren Keith McCoy, 32, who
also faces state murder charges in the 1997 killing of a notorious Portland
gangster known as " 'lil Smurf."

The 44-page indictment charges all the defendants with conspiracy to
traffic in drugs. Fourteen are charged with conspiracy to launder money,
and five are charged with gun offenses. The indictment also seeks the
forfeiture of three pieces of property, eight automobiles, a boat, a
computer and an unspecified amount of cash.

The indictment, the fifth updated version of which was unsealed Monday,
describes the drug conspiracy as follows:

Between January 1996 and December 1997, defendants brought
"multi-kilograms" of cocaine from Fresno, Calif., to Portland and Western
Washington.

As part of the conspiracy, the defendants and others used 23 listed
residences in Portland; Fresno; Irrigon; Vancouver, Wash.; and Camas,
Wash., to package, cook, store and distribute crack.

The indictment says the defendants also operated and used Portland
businesses, including LCH Auto Wholesale, 2622 N.E. Alberta St., and
Balloons Galore, 6207 N.E. 15th Ave., as fronts to conceal, transfer and
spend cash proceeds from the sales of cocaine.

J. Richard Scruggs, the chief federal prosecutor in the case, declined to
elaborate on the conspiracy beyond what was in the indictment.

Although the federal charges vary among the defendants, the large
quantities of cocaine carry a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. A
variety of factors -- including previous criminal records and the
willingness to accept responsibility -- could reduce the sentences for
minor participants and push sentences of the larger players toward the
maximum life sentence.

McCoy pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges and a gun offense Dec. 4.
Sentencing is scheduled for later this year.

He still faces a Multnomah County murder indictment in the shooting of
Anthony Branch Jr., also known as 'lil Smurf, in the parking lot of a
Northeast Portland strip joint on Oct. 9, 1997, after an argument. Portland
police arrested McCoy on April 29, 1998, in Fresno.

Police have not said what McCoy and Branch, a member of the Kerby Blocc
Crips, argued about, although they said McCoy was at the Viewpoint
Restaurant and Lounge, 8102 N.E. Killingsworth St., to settle a score with
someone who had stolen five kilograms of cocaine from him.

Despite the apparent link between the murder the drug case, neither police
nor prosecutors would discuss the details of the case Tuesday.

McCoy was set to go to trial on murder charges Oct. 5, but Multnomah County
prosecutors asked for a delay so they could get evidence from the federal
case to use against him in the murder case. The murder trial has not been
rescheduled.

Tuesday's appearance in federal court, scheduled to deal with logistical
matters, indicated how complicated the case will be to try. Seventeen
defendants -- 16 pleaded not guilty Tuesday and one pleaded not guilty
Monday -- and each of their attorneys crowded before U.S. District Judge
Ancer Haggerty, spilling into the jury box.

The case includes so many documents -- more than 10,000 pages and 300 hours
of tapes -- that prosecutors plan to provide only a few copies for defense
attorneys to share.

A number of the defendants are known gang members. One, Garth Hiag Brown,
31, is a former Portland State University wrestler who tried out for the
1996 Olympics. He is charged with conspiracy to traffic in drugs and
launder money.

The other defendants charged in the indictment are Dino Jaynolen Beard, 31;
Byron Craig Brown, 37; Jonya Burgess, 26; Glenn Edward Harper, 45; Andrew
Lee Henderson, 51; Dana Annette Hodge, 31; Dameon Dupree Jefferson, 21;
Edwina Lynniece Jones, 38; Dwight Andre Myrick, 31; Jonathon Demetrius
Norman, 27; Jerri Lynn Page, 28; Kyllo Kendell Penn, 27; Amad Jamal Polite,
29; and Adolph Spears Sr., 55, all of Portland; Earnest Lee Abbit, 52;
Jamie Renee Donaldson, 36; Harvey Donaldson Jr., 33; and Mary Lou Ann
Haynes, 39, all of Fresno; Byron Vann Branch Jr., 28, and Carlotta LaJean
Franklin, 31, both of Vancouver; and Armando Arroyo Chairez, 32, of
Irrigon.