FOUR WON'T FACE DRUG CHARGES

Prosecutors dropped charges Wednesday against four of seven people arrested
in one of Fresno County's largest drug busts, saying fingerprint evidence
against them was weak.

"The district attorney did the right thing by dismissing it instead of
wasting time with a preliminary hearing," said defense lawyer Eric Green,
who represented one of the group arrested Aug. 8 in connection with the
seizure of 26 pounds of cocaine.

Though prosecutors said the four lived at the home where the cocaine was
found, Green said they had no involvement with the drugs.

The decision not to prosecute "saved the taxpayers a couple of bucks,"
Green said.

A preliminary hearing had been scheduled Wednesday for the four - Aurelio
Felix, 22; Geronimo Quintero Vega, 23; Graciela Ramirez Ybarra, 23; and
Martin Beltran Quintero, 33.

But the hearing, which would have determined whether there was enough
evidence to hold a trial, was canceled after the charges were dropped.

Assistant District Attorney Bob Freed said fingerprint evidence collected
from the home where the cocaine was found did not link the four to the
drugs.

A preliminary hearing for the remaining defendants - Maria Felix, 33; Cruz
Lopez Felix, 27, and Juan Manuel Lopez, 39 - was reset for Sept. 10. All
have pleaded innocent.

The group was arrested by Fresno police at a home in the 1200 block of West
Lansing Way. That bust has been tied to the seizure a day earlier of 13
pounds of cocaine and $1.1 million in cash in northeast Fresno.

Thirty-year-old Victor L. Brown, who has been described by authorities as
one of Fresno's largest drug dealers, is being prosecuted in federal court
on charges stemming from the 13 pounds.

Fresno police have said in court papers that Brown has admitted that he was
involved in a cocaine operation that handled as much as 220 pounds of
cocaine at a time. Police said he tipped investigators to the cocaine at
the Lansing Way home, though his lawyer, Robert Wynne, said he did not.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson