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Drop prosecutors, lawyer tells judge

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Published Jun. 24, 2006

Prosecutors have so badly mishandled the case against a man accused of being a Colombian drug lord they must be replaced, a defense attorney demanded Friday.

Ronald J. Kurpiers, an attorney for Joaquin Valencia-Trujillo, told a judge Friday his client could not receive a fair trial from prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office from the Middle District of Florida because they gained access to internal defense documents while investigating a potential money laundering scheme.

If U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins doesn't dismiss the case against Valencia-Trujillo, then she should appoint a different U.S. Attorney's Office to handle the prosecution, Kurpiers said during a hearing Friday.

"The threat of prejudice cannot be ignored," Kurpiers said. "We cannot go forward as long as this U.S. Attorney's Office is involved in the prosecution."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mosakowski said Kurpiers' complaints were exaggerated. His office worked quickly to erect a "Chinese wall" between prosecutors in the criminal case against Valencia-Trujillo and those investigating possible money laundering charges to avoid tainting the case, he said.

Jenkins did not issue a ruling Friday. She will send a written recommendation to Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich, who will make the final ruling.

The decision must be made quickly; Valencia-Trujillo's trial is scheduled to start July 5.

If Kurpiers' request for a new prosecution team is granted, it would delay the trial for months.

Federal prosecutors describe Valencia-Trujillo as one of the leaders of the Cali drug cartel. He is accused of importing and distributing more than 100 tons of cocaine in dozens of shipments between 1990 and his arrest in 2003.

Valencia-Trujillo, who is also known as a top breeder of Paso Fino horses, is charged with several counts of drug smuggling and money laundering. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

Defense attorneys asked that the case against Valencia-Trujillo be dismissed earlier this week after they learned details about the money laundering investigation.

According to court testimony, an investigator hired by the defense contacted Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Ruddy on April 27. The investigator, James Gahan, said he had information about a scheme hatched by Valencia-Trujillo to re-sell Paso Fino horses seized by the government to raise money to hire a private attorney.

Under federal law, it is illegal to use drug-related assets for a defense.

After meeting with Ruddy, Gahan gave two federal agents documents to support his claim. The documents were sealed and stored in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Valencia-Trujillo's defense attorneys said the information provided by Gahan was directly related to the case against their client. If the prosecution had access to those files, it could irreparably harm Valencia-Trujillo's chances of getting a fair trial, they said.

The defense attorneys said Ruddy should never have agreed to meet with Gahan because he knew Gahan was involved with the defense. They also accused Ruddy of lying when he said he never saw documents related to the money laundering case.

"He flat-out lied to you," Kurpiers told Judge Jenkins. "I know that's extremely harsh and you're not supposed to say that in a courtroom."

But Mosakowski said Gahan was involved only in the search for assets to raise money for the defense, not the main criminal case. Another Lie.

Mosakowski also noted the U.S. Attorney's Office quickly created a separate team of prosecutors and agents to investigate Gahan's claims who did not share their findings with Ruddy or others involved in the criminal case.

Another Lie.

"If Mr. Ruddy went to the trouble of establishing a (separate) team, I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt when he testifies he did not see the records," Mosakowski said. The money laundering investigation was dropped without any charges in May.

Valencia-Trujillo's indictment stems from a decadelong investigation called Operation Panama Express. Since January 2000, it has netted more than 400 tons of cocaine and caught about 890 people, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

However, not all of those arrested have been convicted. In 2003, 16 sailors from Lithuania and Ukraine were charged with drug smuggling as part of Operation Panama Express.

Their six-week trial in Tampa ended without a single guilty verdict. Jurors acquitted 15 of the defendants and couldn't agree on whether the remaining defendant was guilty.