Pubdate: Wed, 12 Sep 2001
Source: The Herald-Sun (NC)
Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: Catherine Wilson, Associated Press Writer

KINGPIN'S CO-DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY

MIAMI -- A co-defendant of a former Medellin drug cartel kingpin pleaded 
guilty Tuesday to helping launder profits from drugs shipped to the United 
States and Mexico.

Hernan Abelardo Gomez Moreno came to court a day after Fabio Ochoa, a 
one-time leader of the cartel, made his first appearance in the case. Ochoa 
is accused of running a 30-ton-a-month smuggling operation in 1998 and 1999.

Gomez, 43, a Colombian citizen extradited to the United States, was accused 
of picking up drug money in Colombia and converting it from dollars to pesos.

Prosecutor Glenn Alexander said evidence against Gomez included taped phone 
calls and the testimony of participants who are now cooperating with 
investigators.

The hearing on Gomez's plea was one of the few sessions completed before 
the city's federal courthouse complex was closed in response to the 
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The money laundering conspiracy count against Gomez carries a possible 
20-year sentence. Defense attorney Jon May said he expects Gomez to serve 
about another 30 months, based on credit for time behind bars since his 
arrest in 1999.

May declined to say whether Gomez's plea bargain requires him to help 
prosecutors in their case against Ochoa and other defendants.
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