JUSTICE ISN'T FOR SALE

Jurors In Magluta Case Seek A Deal

It is always distressing to learn that even that which seems inviolate - -
the integrity of the U.S. judicial system, for example -- has a price. For
three jurors in the trial of profligate drug dealers Sal Magluta and
Guillermo ''Willy'' Falcon, the price was a bit more than $1 million.

In order to enrich themselves, the jurors agreed to participate in the most
vile corruption of the judicial system imaginable: selling their votes for
not-guilty verdicts. Jury foreman Miguel Moya, in stubborn denial to the
very end, was convicted four years ago and sentenced to 17 1/2 years in
prison. Two other jurors, Gloria Alba, 31, and Maria del Carmen Penalver,
30, were arraigned in U.S. District Court Wednesday on similar charges of
selling their votes. They are cooperating with prosecutors, belatedly, and
are expected to negotiate plea bargains that may spare them some of the time
in prison that they so richly deserve.

The fate of these jurors should be an object lesson to anyone in the
judicial system -- jurors, witnesses, clerks, bailiffs, judges or
prosecutors -- who would be tempted so abominably to compromise themselves
and the system. If and when they face sentencing, the judge shouldn't forget
what's at stake: the heart and soul of the judicial system -- its integrity.

The information Ms. Alba and Ms. Penalver give to prosecutors will help the
government understand the extent to which the Magluta-Falcon case, and the
system itself, was compromised. It also may help prosecutors and court
administrators devise better controls to prevent tampering in future cases.
Ms. Alba apologized profusely in court. If convicted, she could face eight
years in prison; her husband, charged with abetting the alleged crime, may
face four years. The parents of two children, the couple hope that any time
they serve in prison would be sequential rather than simultaneous so that
one of them can care for the children, according to their lawyer.

Their cooperation is better late than never, but their tardy confessions
should be weighed against the gravity of the offense -- not to mention the
years that they kept silent as prosecutors painstakingly pieced together
what went wrong in the initial Magluta and Falcon trial. These two former
jurors aren't heroes, they're desperate. Two other jurors, Darrell Weekley
and Cynthia Watts, are the heroes in this case. They resolutely voted to
convict the drug dealers, only to be shouted down repeatedly by Moya and
others. Mr. Weekley alerted prosecutors about possible irregularities early
on, and both he and Ms. Watts have cooperated with investigators. Give
credit, too, to the U.S. attorney and the team of prosecutors who, for
years, patiently reconstructed the case and the appalling truth of what
happened. Without their persistence, the authors of this crime would have
perverted justice with dirty money.