REAL ESTATE BROKER, COLOMBIAN NATIVE ON TRIAL

As Of Morning, No Verdict Reached In Case Of Dealer's Co-defendants

Earl Frith of Floyd County is charged with accepting $40,000 in purported
drug money.

Jurors loudly argued with each other late into the night Thursday in the
trial of two of Javier Cruz's co-defendants, still deliberating as to
whether a Roanoke-area real estate broker and a Colombian man from Miami
played roles in Cruz's cocaine trafficking ring.

Closing arguments in the trial of Earl Frith of Floyd County and J.R.
Castellanos of Miami took all day Thursday, wrapping up at 5:30 p.m. The
jury began deliberating about 6 and was still at it after midnight. Loud
voices could be heard coming from the jury room.

Frith, 63, owner of Roanoke Land & Auction Co., is charged with accepting
$40,000 in purported drug money from Cruz's wife, Pamela, in a federal
government "sting" operation after the Cruzes were arrested by Drug
Enforcement Administration agents in 1991. He also is accused of
structuring bank deposits to prevent federal authorities from learning of
$16,000 in cash Javier Cruz paid him for cows in a separate transaction.

Castellanos, a Colombian native, is charged with conspiring to import
cocaine and to distribute cocaine. He is accused of managing cocaine
trafficking operations for Cruz's New York boss, Leonardo Rivera.

Frith and Castellanos were the only two arrested so far in the far-flung
conspiracy case who have pleaded not guilty. Both Cruz and Rivera
cooperated with the government in making a case against them.

The defendants, who did not know each other, made an odd pair -- a fact
readily acknowledged by prosectors.

"You were probably struck when you first sat down ... by the contrasts in
this case," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott told the jury. "What draws
these men together is money."

Mott argued that Frith knew that banks had to report cash transactions of
more than $10,000. Testimony showed that Frith made two $8,000 deposits
after Cruz paid him $16,000 for cattle.

"This whole drug business backs up if they can't launder the money," Mott
said. "And that's where the Earl Friths of the world come in." He said the
IRS agents running the sting gave Frith two chances to turn down Pamela
Cruz's money -- and he didn't take them.

But defense attorney David Walker countered that Frith was set up by IRS
criminal investigator Dana White, who was eager to be part of the Cruz
investigation.

"You have what is developing to be one of the biggest drug cases ever in
this country, never mind this area, and she needs a defendant in it,"
Walker said.

Walker said his client was "irate. This has ruined his business, ruined his
life."

Frith has testified he took the $40,000 from Pamela Cruz because he was
frightened of her husband.

Walker and defense attorney Joaquin Fernandez, who represented Castellanos,
spent part of their closing arguments attacking the government's use of
informants in the case. Prosecutors made deals with the two most culpable
individuals caught so far in the conspiracy and paid them to help gather
information on Colombian traffickers. Javier Cruz and Leonardo Rivera were
also paid.

"What happened to the concept that bad guys should be in jail and not out
on the street getting $300,000 of our tax money?" Fernandez asked. He
argued that there was nothing to corroborate Rivera's testimony that
Castellanos trafficked in cocaine. "All we have is his word -- no tapes, no
nothing."

Prosecutor Bruce Pagel argued that it should have been obvious to Frith
that Cruz was not a legitimate businessman when the drug trafficker moved
to Floyd County in 1989.

"Who wouldn't know this guy was a drug dealer?" Pagel asked the jury.

The main evidence against Castellanos came from Rivera's testimony.

Rivera said he had incriminating telephone conversations with Castellanos
after he began cooperating with the DEA, but they can't be found, a
prosecutor said.