2 LAWYERS FOR CALI DRUG CARTEL CONVICTED OF CONSPIRACY; 1 FLEES

MIAMI -- Two lawyers, one of whom disappeared when he got word of a verdict,
were convicted Monday of funneling hush money, delivering threats and
preparing false affidavits for kingpins of Colombia's Cali drug cartel.

Former Justice Department extradition expert Michael Abbell and missing
Miami lawyer William Moran were found guilty of two conspiracy counts, each
punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The jury could not reach a verdict on two drug-trafficking conspiracy
charges carrying possible life terms, and the judge declared a mistrial on
those counts.

The two defense attorneys were accused of crossing the line between
zealously representing their clients and actually taking part in their crimes.

The case represented a bold strategy on the part of the government of
charging lawyers with the same crimes as their clients. But criminal defense
lawyers saw the case as government intimidation aimed at discouraging them
from representing drug dealers.

The Cali cartel is believed to have smuggled nearly 250 tons of cocaine into
the United States from 1983 to 1991.

Hours before the verdict was read, U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler
refused to grant a mistrial. The request came from the defense after six of
11 jurors reported hearing some kind of news over the weekend about Moran's
disappearance on Friday.

Moran, 59, left the courthouse after learning the jury had reached a partial
verdict. Without telling jurors, the judge issued a warrant for Moran, and
his chair stood empty Monday at the defense table.

All six jurors who reported receiving some news about Moran were questioned
individually by the judge and promised they could abide by their oath to
give him a fair trial.

But Holly Skolnick, a backup attorney for Moran, who defended himself,
called some of the jurors' answers "incredible" in her request for a mistrial.

One woman reported putting a pillow over her head to avoid a TV newscast,
and another said that she saw a headline but didn't read on.

Abbell spent 17 years with the Justice Department until 1984, becoming head
of the Office of International Affairs, which handles extraditions. Moran
represented everyone from murder suspects to shoplifters in private practice.

Both were indicted in 1995 in one of the nation's broadest attacks on the
Cali cartel.

The two lawyers were acquitted of the most serious racketeering charge last
October, but the jury deadlocked on four conspiracy counts, leading to the
retrial.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett