Reputed Cartel Figure Convicted In Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. - A Colombian reputed to be an important figure in the Medellin cocaine cartel was convicted yesterday on two federal drug-conspiracy counts.

Jose Abello Silva faces up to $8 million in fines and 30 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Thomas Brett set sentencing for May 29.

Jurors convicted Abello, 35, of conspiring to import marijuana and cocaine into the United States and conspiring to possess drugs with intent to distribute.

The jury deliberated a little more than 20 hours over three days before issuing its verdicts. Jurors' identities remained secret throughout, for security reasons.

Prosecutors called 23 witnesses during five weeks of testimony. Many were convicted drug smugglers who identified Abello in the courtroom and said he supervised drug shipments from Colombian airstrips through the Bahamas.

Abello testified that he was an honest rancher who sold imported cars and fought bulls on the side. He said he was a friend of the Ochoa family - alleged to be part of the leadership of the Medellin drug cartel - but said his visits were limited to dealings with cattle.

Defense attorneys Richard Haynes and Patrick Williams said prosecutors' secrecy about witnesses hurt their case, and they criticized pretrial publicity.

``We'll appeal,'' Williams said. ``We think there are some errors in the case. This has been couched in secrecy. We were totally denied access to previous statements witnesses made.''

Williams said since many of the witnesses were confessed drug smugglers they probably lied about Abello to shorten their own prison sentences.

``Snitches behind bars can come up with stories that will fool good investigators, that will fool good prosecutors and that are totally untrue,'' Williams said.

Abello, from the northern Colombian coastal city of Santa Marta, was indicted in Tulsa in 1987. He was extradited Oct. 29 from Bogota to Tulsa.

Colombia's Administrative Security Department said Abello, reputed to be the fourth-ranking person in the Medellin cocaine cartel, had been arrested in a Bogota restaurant and that he had undergone facial surgery to avoid easy detection.

The department said Abello was the cartel's chief of operations for Colombia's northern coast, where dozens of clandestine air strips are used to smuggle 300 to 400 tons of cocaine into the United States each year. That region also has ports where cocaine is stashed aboard rusty freighters working the coast of Central America and Mexico.

Abello was not on the U.S. Justice Department's list of 12 most-wanted traffickers, but the department has said it wanted dozens of other Colombians on federal drug charges.

Of 15 Colombians extradited to the United States since last August, Abello is the first whose case has reached a verdict.

The case against Abello started in 1986 when Oklahoma authorities arrested a drug courier en route to Denver. He agreed to cooperate under a plea agreement and helped police hook Boris Olarte Morales.

Olarte also agreed to cooperate and began making telephone calls to fellow smugglers. The calls resulted in a February 1987 meeting in Aruba, off Venezuela's coast, between Abello and several others.

Prosecutors contended that Abello agreed to import 500 kilograms of cocaine - more than half a ton - into the United States. Part of the proceeds allegedly would have gone to help free Olarte. The plan was never enacted.

Abello testified that he attended the meeting in Aruba, but said he stormed out of the room when the conversation turned to drugs.