DRUG RAP FOR EX-COP WHO FACED SHOOT TRIAL

July 21, 2002 -- An ex-cop once accused of shooting his business partner
was arraigned yesterday on drug charges after Customs inspectors
intercepted a shipment of "magic mushrooms" to his Brooklyn home.

Mark McCurdy, 54, was busted Friday after he signed for the delivery of
hallucinogenic fungi, authorities said.

A search of his home allegedly uncovered pounds of pot, plus plenty of
marijuana plants grown in water.

McCurdy, a paralegal, made headlines in the late 1970s when he was charged
with shooting city sanitation worker Alexander Bradford five times in the
back in a dispute about a record store the pair owned.

McCurdy had told investigators he shot Bradford in self-defense.

McCurdy's first trial for attempted murder ended in a hung jury.

A week before a second trial was to begin, a witness against McCurdy was
shot in the back with a hunting arrow by a hooded archer.

The outcome of the second trial could not be immediately determined.

McCurdy's latest bust was triggered when Customs officials examined the
package addressed to him because it appeared to contain agricultural goods,
officials said.

Customs officers X-rayed it and discovered what appeared to be bags of
mushrooms, authorities said.

Customs contacted the U.S. Postal Service, and together with the NYPD, they
arranged a delivery to the apartment on Pacific Street, authorities said.