RULING REVERSES GARY LAWYER'S CONVICTION

A federal judge this week reversed the money laundering conviction of Gary
Attorney Jerry Jarrett, accusing the government of vindictive prosecution.
Jarrett's acquittal prompted one of his former clients, Dr. Jong Hi Bek, to
request a mistrial Tuesday in his federal drug trial.

Bek is in the middle of a trial on 27 counts of of conspiring to illegally
distribute prescription drugs and health-care fraud. Jarrett was
representing Bek in this case, but had to withdraw about 18 weeks prior to
the trial after being indicted himself.

In a 38-page opinion released Monday, U.S. District Judge William Lee ruled
that the government was overzealous in its prosecution of Jarrett. Jarrett
filed an appeal claiming vindictive prosecution after a jury found him
guilty in December on six money laundering-related charges.

The basis for Jarrett's argument for dismissal was prosecutors brought
charges against him in order to remove him as counsel for Bek. Prosecutors
argued that it was a conflict of interest for Jarrett to represent Bek in a
federal case.

Lee found that when the court denied removing Jarrett as Bek's attorney,
the government sought an indictment against Jarrett. The superseding
indictment forced Jarrett to withdraw as counsel for Bek.

As a result of Lee's ruling, Bek is now seeking to have his case dismissed
or retried.

Bek claims in Tuesday's three-page motion for dismissal that the government
interfered with his attorney/client relationship in an attempt to hinder
his defense. The Gary doctor said he was forced to take on a
court-appointed attorney, Clark Holesinger, and he didn't have enough time
to establish and adequate defense.

Holesinger wasn't available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

According to Lee's opinion, prosecutors "suffered an embarrassing and
highly-publicized setback" in 2003 when Jarrett got murder charges dropped
against Bek in Lake County Superior Court. When federal charges were later
brought against Bek, federal prosecutors tried to have Jarrett removed from
Bek's defense table.

Lee also pointed out that Assistant U.S. Prosecutor Susan Collins, who
argued for Jarrett's removal, was employed as a prosecutor in the Lake
County Court in 2003 when Jarrett successfully squashed the murder charges
against Bek.

Lee said in his opinion that Jarrett effectively proved vindictiveness
"short of getting a verbal confession" from prosecutors.

The judge also noted that the government's star witness in the case against
Jarrett, Gregory Goode, was a major flop.

"Goode ranks as one of the worst witnesses to ever take the stand on the
government's behalf. Jarrett, during his cross-examination of Goode, fully
displayed that Goode is an absolute liar and will say whatever benefits him
at the moment," Lee wrote.

Goode testified during Jarrett's trial last year that Jarrett organized a
business transaction to hide some of Goode's illegal drug proceeds during
the summer of 1999.

Goode, who is serving prison time on separate money laundering charges,
claims he gave Jarrett $25,000 in cash from his drug proceeds, some of
which the attorney converted into checks and returned to Goode.

Carlos Ripoll, a former drug trafficker associated with the Zambrana crime
family, also testified that Jarrett knowingly tried to launder $67,000 of
his drug proceeds in 1999.

Jarrett didn't return phone message left at his office and home for comment
Tuesday.