CUSTOMS AGENT PLEADS GUILTY TO KICKBACK CHARGES IN HASHISH CASE

The lead U.S. Customs agent in a politically sensitive hashish
smuggling prosecution has pleaded guilty to accepting a kickback from
a key informant in the case.

The guilty plea, entered yesterday by Senior Special Agent Frank
Gervacio, has raised new questions about federal drug trafficking
charges that are pending against Thanong Siriprechapong, a former
member of the Thai parliament who was arrested in 1996 on charges of
smuggling 49 tons of hashish into the United States.

Gervacio could be sentenced to one year in federal prison and fined
$100,000 when he appears before U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn
Walker for sentencing October 26.

As part of his plea, Gervacio was dismissed from the Customs Service
post he held for 15 years and declared unfit for employment by
federal, state or local law enforcement agencies. Should Gervacio
apply for such a job, the Justice Department will inform the agency of
his crime.

In his plea agreement, Gervacio admitted taking $4,000 in cash from
the informant after helping the man collect a $110,875 federal reward
for his assistance in the Siriprechapong case.

Papers filed in U.S. District Court say that the informant attempted
to hand Gervacio an envelope containing the money while riding with
the agent in his government issue car in August 1992, but Gervacio
told him it would be better to drop the envelope on the car's floor.

Gervacio then lied to federal investigators looking into the kickback
by telling them that he had not solicited the kickback. In fact, he
had asked for the money in a telephone conversation with the informant
in April 1992.

Because of the kickback, attorneys for Siriprechapong have filed
papers with Judge Walker asking that the indictment against the former
Thai politician be dropped due to government misconduct.

They have noted that prosecutors were aware of the payment to Gervacio
for nine months and did not disclose it until just before
Siriprechapong's trial was scheduled to begin.

They also said that Gervacio's past misstatements about the payment
raise questions about his credibility if he is called to testify
during Siriprechapong's trial.

Federal prosecutors acknowledge that Gervacio played a crucial role in
the investigation that led to Siriprechapong's arrest, and was a
central witness before the grand jury that issued the indictment. But
they have said they have ample evidence and witnesses to win a
conviction without Gervacio's testimony at trial.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady