Acquittal, deadlocks for two exlawyers for cartel

MIAMI (AP) A jury Monday failed to convict two lawyers for Colombia's
Cali cocaine cartel on charges they crossed the line and actually took part
in the drug trade.

In a major defeat for the U.S. government, the lawyers were acquitted on
the most serious charge of racketeering, and the jury deadlocked on the
four other charges.

Michael Abbell, a former Justice Department extradition expert who lives in
Bethesda, Md., and William Moran of Miami had been charged with funneling
hush money to defendants, relaying threats from the cartel chiefs and
preparing false affidavits to exonerate the Colombian bosses of the cartel.

Jurors, who heard a daunting amount of testimony throughout the summer on
the roles of the lawyers in representing cartel members, returned the
verdict after deliberating for 10 days over three weeks. The charges
carried sentences of 10 years to life.

The case had been closely watched in legal circles because of the federal
government's use of a bold prosecution strategy charging lawyers with
the same crimes as their clients under racketeering and conspiracy counts.

The government called 60 witnesses in painting an intricate picture of an
organization accused of smuggling 200 tons of cocaine into this country
over the last decade.

Prosecutors charged the cartel employed a network of lawyers to keep
abreast of the latest legal developments in the United States, defend
smugglers caught in this country and take an undercover criminal role.

Abbell, who served 17 years with the Justice Department, was head of the
criminal division's international affairs office, which handles
extraditions from foreign countries, before he left in 1984. Abbell's
expertise was crucial in influencing Colombian lawmakers to shield drug
lords from extradition, the government charged. His lawyers tried to show
that he was doing legitimate legal work.

Moran testified he never conspired to smuggle drugs.