Pubdate: Saturday,June 26,1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Section: News,page 4 Author: Anthony Breznican-The Associated Press EX-AGENT ACQUITTED ON COCAINE CHARGES Courts: But Richard Wayne Parker of San Juan Capistrano was convicted of tax evasion. Los Angeles-A former state drug agent accused of stealing 650 pounds of cocaine was convicted of tax evasion and was convicted of tax drug charges and a money-laundering charge, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday. U.S.District Judge A. Howard Matz declared a mistrial on four remaining charges, which included burglary and possession of drugs with intent to sell, after the jury deadlocked on those counts. Richard Wayne Parker, 44, will remain in custody until July 6, when he is scheduled to reappear for a court hearing, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said. Prosecutors are expected to announce at that time whether Parker will be retried. Sentencing on the tax-evasion conviction was not immediately set. The tense jury deliberations, lasting two weeks, included a flare-up in which some jurors had to be restrained from fighting one another. The jury last week found two co-defendants not guilty and reached verdicts on four of the eight charges against Parker, but the verdicts weren't unsealed until Friday. The judge ordered the jurors to return for deliberations this week on the four counts, but declared the mistrial after they said they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. Two jurors said as they left the courthouse that they were dead-locked 11-1 in favor of acquitting Parker on the remaining charges. Parker was accused of stealing the cocaine from the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's Riverside office on the Fourth of July weekend in 1997, making the theft look like a forced burglary. The prosecution said he sold the cocaine through several "conduits." Prosecutors said officers who arrested Parker at his San Juan Capistrano home found $600,000 in cash in some of the eight vehicles he had recently bought. Defense attorney Richard Hamar contended during the trial that drug informants were trying to frame Parker, who was a drug agent for 10 years. The defense argued that only a minuscule amount of cocaine was found in Parker's gym bags - an amount that could be found in the home of any drug agent who regularly handles narcotics. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart