©1997 San Francisco Examiner

Judge throws out wiretaps

FROM EXAMINER STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A federal judge in San Francisco has thrown out five months' worth of
wiretap evidence in a major heroin case after finding that drug agents
deceived the judge who authorized the electronic surveillance.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker excluded the intercepted telephone
conversations that make up the core of the case against Pius Ailemen of
Oakland, a suspected international heroin trafficker who was indicted in
1994 in a drug smuggling scheme.

"Judge Walker made it clear that government deception in the name of the
"war on drugs' will not be tolerated," said Gail Shifman, Ailemen's attorney.

The office of U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi issued a brief, unsigned
statement expressing disappointment with Walker's order. The oneparagraph
release said prosecutors would consult with the Department of Justice in
Washington before deciding whether to appeal.

"In any event, even if the order stands, we have sufficient evidence on
which to proceed to trial against Pius Ailemen, and we intend to take him
to trial on these charges," the statement read.

But Shifman said that without the wiretap evidence, the government would
have to drop most of its charges against Ailemen, who faces a possible life
sentence.

In making his ruling, Walker upheld the conclusions of U.S. Magistrate
Wayne Brazil, who issued a scathing 129page report May 22 after holding a
weeklong hearing on the evidence challenge.

Brazil wrote that Drug Enforcement Administration investigator Robert
Silano had provided misleading statements to the court and shown "reckless
disregard for the truth" in obtaining a wiretap on the alleged drug kingpin.

He said had Silano withheld information and misrepresented facts to
convince U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen that conventional
investigative methods such as the study of phone records were futile.

Under federal law, wiretaps are granted only when other investigative
techniques fail or when agents are exposed to a high level of danger,
Brazil said.

If the charges against Ailemen are dropped, it would be the second time in
seven years that the Nigerian native has defeated a federal prosecution on
heroin dealing charges.

He was first indicted in 1989 on charges of importing and distributing
heroin.