24-YEAR SMUGGLING SENTENCE UPHELD

Court denies appeal in big hashish case

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has upheld a Canadian man's
24-year prison sentence for smuggling 70 tons of hashish -- the largest
shipment ever seized by U.S. agents.

In dismissing the appeal by Canadian real estate dealer Michael Medjuck,
the Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. prosecutors had clearly been justified
in charging and trying Medjuck in this country, even though the hashish he
was smuggling was bound for Canada.

In an opinion issued Thursday, the court noted that part of Medjuck's
preparations for the smuggling operation had been made in the United States
and that a portion of the drug was scheduled to be sold in this country.

Medjuck, 48, was convicted in U.S. District Court in San Francisco two
years ago.

He was taken into custody in Lake County in 1991 during a sting operation
in which he attempted to retrieve nearly three tons of the drug from a boat
controlled by federal narcotics agents.

According to prosecutors, he had obtained 40 tons of the hashish in
Afghanistan and had it transported to Pakistan in a camel caravan guarded
by Pakistani tribesmen armed with assault rifles.

>From Pakistan, the hashish was loaded onto an oceangoing vessel called the
>Lucky Star, which took on 30 more tons of the drug in waters off the
>Philippine Islands.

The ring was broken by undercover agents in Hawaii who were hired by
Medjuck for $3.25 million to move the drug into Canada aboard a fishing
boat. The undercover agents provided information that allowed federal
authorities to intercept the dope-laden Lucky Star in the Pacific in July
1991.

After his arrest, Medjuck made local headlines when he asked the court for
permission to be ``incarcerated'' until his trial in a posh San Francisco
penthouse at his own expense.

The request was rejected by U.S. District Judge Eugene Lynch because he
considered Medjuck likely to flee.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A23

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson