Noriega's Drug Conviction Upheld

By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) An appeals court rejected Manuel Noriega's bid for a
new trial on drug charges Monday, rejecting arguments the deposed
Panamanian ruler was barred from discussing $10 million he claims to have
received from the CIA.

A threejudge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled there
may have been substance to Noriega's claims, but their relevance was
marginal.

Noriega's attorneys argued that he was unable to defend himself adequately
at his 1992 trial because he was barred from discussing his classified work
for the CIA.

Had he been allowed to testify about the payoffs, they said, Noriega could
have disputed prosecutors' allegation that he amassed millions of dollars in
payoffs from the Medellin drug cartel.

Jon May, one of Noriega's attorneys, said: ``This battle is far from over.''
They planned to ask for a hearing by the full appeals court and, if
unsuccessful, a review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Noriega is serving a 40year sentence in a Miami prison for protecting
smugglers who routed drugs through Panama.

He was taken into U.S. custody in 1990 after he surrendered to U.S. troops
who had invaded Panama.

To support claims that Noriega received drug money, prosecutors pointed
during the trial to millions of dollars he amassed, even though they never said
all the money was drugrelated.

Noriega, who was on the CIA payroll in the 1980s, has said he collected
more than $10 million from the agency, even though government records
show payments of only about $800,000.