CUSTOMS CONVICTION MUDDIES DRUG TRIAL

DISMISSAL SOUGHT IN PROMINENT CASE

Attorneys for a former member of the Thai parliament accused of smuggling
more than 45 tons of hashish have asked that the case be dismissed, saying
the charges are based on false grand jury testimony by a Customs agent
convicted of taking money from a key prosecution witness.

In papers filed in U.S. District Court, the lawyers also said the U.S.
attorney's office in San Francisco improperly asked other federal
prosecutors to delay bringing criminal charges against the agent in an
attempt to protect the hashish case.

``The fountain of justice has been polluted by the government's actions,''
defense attorney Karen Snell argued. ``It can only be cleansed by the
quashing of these criminal charges.''

Matt Jacobs, a spokesman for newly appointed U.S. Attorney Robert Mueller
III, declined to comment, saying the government will issue a written
response to the court later this month.

Thanong ``Thai Tony'' Siriprechapong, 45, a hotelier and businessman who
served for more than three years in the Thai parliament, was indicted by a
federal grand jury in 1991.

Siriprechapong was the subject of prolonged extradition negotiations
between U.S. officials and the Thai government. His case created an
international diplomatic sensation and marked the first time the Thai
government agreed to extradite one of its citizens.

Despite the involvement of the highest levels of the U.S. Justice
Department, however, the case against Siriprechapong began to unravel last
year when federal prosecutors revealed that the primary U.S. Customs
Service investigator in the case had taken money from one of the
government's primary witnesses.

The investigator, Senior Special Agent Frank Gervacio, was later indicted
for accepting the kickback and pleaded guilty in September.

The request that the indictment against Siriprechapong be dismissed was
filed in U.S. District Court late last month by Snell and two other defense
attorneys, Robert Luskin and William Osterhoudt.

In court papers, the three lawyers say the charges should be dropped
because Gervacio, who was the only witness to appear before the grand jury
that indicted Siriprechapong, lied repeatedly about the kickback he had
received and gave false testimony about Siriprechapong.

In addition, Snell said 3,000 pages of government documents recently turned
over to defense attorneys show a pattern of improper government conduct,
including attempts to influence the criminal investigation of Gervacio.

``The lead prosecutor in the case, (Assistant U.S. Attorney) John Lyons,
repeatedly intervened with prosecutors from the Public Integrity Section of
the Department of Justice in order to protect the agent and to delay the
institution of public criminal proceedings against the agent,'' Snell said
in her pleadings.

``Lyons repeatedly lied to and misled this court to prevent the court from
learning information which wholly undermines Mr. Siriprechapong's
extradition, as well as his indictment,'' Snell said.

In keeping with the policy of Mueller, who wants all his staff's press
contacts to be channeled through his spokesman, Lyons declined to comment
on Snell's filings.

Papers filed by Siriprechapong's lawyers said Lyons improperly contacted
the prosecutor in Gervacio's case on at least two occasions last year. One
of those calls took place in May last year, a month before federal
prosecutors reluctantly admitted that Gervacio was the subject of a federal
criminal investigation.

During the May contact, Lyons allegedly tried to persuade Stephen Anthony,
Gervacio's prosecutor, to delay bringing charges against the agent until
the government could persuade Siriprechapong to plead guilty.

In the second call, one month after the Gervacio investigation was
disclosed, Lyons allegedly tried to save Gervacio's job with Customs,
ostensibly so that he could still call the agent as a witness when
Siriprechapong came to trial.

Both contacts were rebuffed, according to court papers. In a letter to
Lyons after his second contact, Anthony cautioned him that his calls were
improper.

``It is not appropriate for you, wearing your `hat' as the friend of Mr.
Gervacio, to inject yourself into the negotiation of specific terms of a
plea agreement,'' Anthony said. ``We request that you have no involvement
in this matter in the future.''

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski