Pleads guilty under federal drug kingpin statute

Cruz admits deeds; may skip prison

He also pleaded guilty to money laundering, conspiracy to import and to
distribute cocaine and possession of 10 firearms.

By JAN VERTEFEUILLE THE ROANOKE TIMES

Colombian drug smuggler Javier Cruz pleaded guilty to drug kingpin charges
in federal court in Roanoke on Friday, but a prosecutor refused to say
whether he would seek any prison time for Cruz.

Cruz pleaded guilty to running a continuing criminal enterprise -- the
federal kingpin statute -- in Roanoke and elsewhere from 1988 to 1991. Cruz
ran a used-car lot in Roanoke that was a front for a cross-country smuggling
network.

Cruz also pleaded guilty to money laundering, conspiracy to import cocaine
into the United States, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of
10 firearms as a fugitive from justice.

He was allowed to remain free on $100,000 unsecured bond, the same bond he
has had since being released from jail and sent undercover to Colombia in
1992.

The 40-year-old Colombian was living under an assumed name in Roanoke when
he was arrested in 1991, wanted on a first-degree murder charge in
Charlotte, N.C. Federal agents found the guns in his Salem house, including
an Uzi and semi-automatic assault rifles, after his arrest. They were
intended to be shipped to cocaine traffickers in Colombia, a DEA agent
testified.

A trial for two of Cruz's co-defendants begins Monday. Four were supposed to
go on trial, but two more agreed Friday to plead guilty. Another man
connected to the case, Salem car dealer David Thompson, is also expected to
plead guilty at some point after next week's trial to one count of money
laundering.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott said it was "too early" to say whether the
government would seek any prison time for Cruz. He said he normally leaves
it up to the judge to decide how much of a break to give to cooperating
defendants. Cruz faces life in prison, but will likely get a substantial
break for helping the DEA in a money-laundering sting.

Cruz has cooperated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since his
1991 arrest. He spent several years in Colombia, posing as a money launderer
to gather information on the Cali cartel.

Cruz's attorney, Bill Cleaveland, said it was "difficult to say" whether
Cruz will have to serve any time.

"That's going to be a tough thing to call," he said. "Folks in the media
have made this a pretty major event. [But] this is not an uncommon way in
which law enforcement operates. They need people like Mr. Cruz ... to get
inside organizations."

Cruz "placed his life in danger on an almost daily basis" for the DEA,
Cleaveland said.

Cruz's boss in the Cali cartel, Leonardo Rivera-Ruiz, also pleaded guilty to
a drug kingpin charge and conspiracy charges. Rivera ran the New York
operation for the Colombian trafficking organization, and Cruz was in charge
of getting Rivera's cocaine from the border to New York via Roanoke. The
Cali cartel, which has been weakened by the prosecution of its leaders in
Colombia in recent years, supplied up to 80 percent of the world's cocaine
at the time Cruz and Rivera worked for it.

After Cruz agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, the murder charge in
Charlotte was reduced to involuntary manslaughter and Cruz was released from
jail after 16 months on time served. The family of the man he killed said
they were assured that even though he served no prison time for Mark
Garrett's death, Cruz would end up serving a long federal sentence.

Garrett's mother, Glenda, flew to Roanoke for Cruz's hearing Friday, saying
she "owed it to Mark." She was upset that DEA officials, who promised to
keep her informed of hearings in the case, didn't tell her about Cruz's plea
hearing.

"This man keeps getting by with things, and the slate keeps getting wiped
clean," she said after the hearing. "We're not supposed to reward our
criminals."

She was referring to information released Thursday that Cruz was paid
$347,000 in 3 years while he worked for the DEA.

Cruz's sentencing has not been scheduled.