Pubdate: Saturday, January 24, 1998 Source: The Roanoke Times. (Southwestern Virginia) Contact: Pleads guilty under federal drug kingpin statute Cruz admits deeds; may skip prison He also pleaded guilty to money laundering, conspiracy to import and to distribute cocaine and possession of 10 firearms. By JAN VERTEFEUILLE THE ROANOKE TIMES Colombian drug smuggler Javier Cruz pleaded guilty to drug kingpin charges in federal court in Roanoke on Friday, but a prosecutor refused to say whether he would seek any prison time for Cruz. Cruz pleaded guilty to running a continuing criminal enterprise -- the federal kingpin statute -- in Roanoke and elsewhere from 1988 to 1991. Cruz ran a used-car lot in Roanoke that was a front for a cross-country smuggling network. Cruz also pleaded guilty to money laundering, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of 10 firearms as a fugitive from justice. He was allowed to remain free on $100,000 unsecured bond, the same bond he has had since being released from jail and sent undercover to Colombia in 1992. The 40-year-old Colombian was living under an assumed name in Roanoke when he was arrested in 1991, wanted on a first-degree murder charge in Charlotte, N.C. Federal agents found the guns in his Salem house, including an Uzi and semi-automatic assault rifles, after his arrest. They were intended to be shipped to cocaine traffickers in Colombia, a DEA agent testified. A trial for two of Cruz's co-defendants begins Monday. Four were supposed to go on trial, but two more agreed Friday to plead guilty. Another man connected to the case, Salem car dealer David Thompson, is also expected to plead guilty at some point after next week's trial to one count of money laundering. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott said it was "too early" to say whether the government would seek any prison time for Cruz. He said he normally leaves it up to the judge to decide how much of a break to give to cooperating defendants. Cruz faces life in prison, but will likely get a substantial break for helping the DEA in a money-laundering sting. Cruz has cooperated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since his 1991 arrest. He spent several years in Colombia, posing as a money launderer to gather information on the Cali cartel. Cruz's attorney, Bill Cleaveland, said it was "difficult to say" whether Cruz will have to serve any time. "That's going to be a tough thing to call," he said. "Folks in the media have made this a pretty major event. [But] this is not an uncommon way in which law enforcement operates. They need people like Mr. Cruz ... to get inside organizations." Cruz "placed his life in danger on an almost daily basis" for the DEA, Cleaveland said. Cruz's boss in the Cali cartel, Leonardo Rivera-Ruiz, also pleaded guilty to a drug kingpin charge and conspiracy charges. Rivera ran the New York operation for the Colombian trafficking organization, and Cruz was in charge of getting Rivera's cocaine from the border to New York via Roanoke. The Cali cartel, which has been weakened by the prosecution of its leaders in Colombia in recent years, supplied up to 80 percent of the world's cocaine at the time Cruz and Rivera worked for it. After Cruz agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, the murder charge in Charlotte was reduced to involuntary manslaughter and Cruz was released from jail after 16 months on time served. The family of the man he killed said they were assured that even though he served no prison time for Mark Garrett's death, Cruz would end up serving a long federal sentence. Garrett's mother, Glenda, flew to Roanoke for Cruz's hearing Friday, saying she "owed it to Mark." She was upset that DEA officials, who promised to keep her informed of hearings in the case, didn't tell her about Cruz's plea hearing. "This man keeps getting by with things, and the slate keeps getting wiped clean," she said after the hearing. "We're not supposed to reward our criminals." She was referring to information released Thursday that Cruz was paid $347,000 in 3 years while he worked for the DEA. Cruz's sentencing has not been scheduled.