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. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens