Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jun 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Anthony Breznican, Associated Press Writer

FORMER AGENT CONVICTED OF TAX EVASION; ACQUITTALS, MISTRIAL DECLARED ON
OTHER COUNTS

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Twelve days of deliberations in the case of a former
state drug agent accused of stealing 650 pounds of cocaine ended in a
mistrial on the four most serious charges and acquittal on three other
charges.

U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz declared a mistrial Friday on four
charges that included burglary and possession of drugs with intent to sell
after the jury deadlocked. Prosecutors did not immediately decide whether
they would retry the former agent on those charges.

Richard Wayne Parker, 44, was found guilty of just one of the eight charges
against him: tax evasion. Jurors acquitted him of two drug charges and a
money laundering charge. He 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 innocent and reached verdicts in 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, 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 deadlocked
10-to-1 in favor of acquitting Parker on the remaining charges. One juror
was dismissed earlier to go on vacation.

"They were exhausted and deserve the credit I'd like to give to them," the
judge said in excusing the jury members.

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.

Parker's defense attorney Richard Hamar claimed 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 miniscule 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.

A juror who declined to give her name left the courthouse shaking her head
and laughing Friday.

"The one man just kept saying, `He's dirty. He's a dirty cop.' And a lot of
us said we knew he was guilty of something, but they just didn't show us
that in court," she said.

Another juror, who also declined to give his name, said: "I'm just glad to
get out and get on with my life, and I hope they let Mr. Parker get on with
his. ... It would be a waste of taxpayers' money to keep pushing these
(remaining) charges."

Parker's attorney told the judge Parker has been in solitary confinement for
more than 350 days since his arrest, but judge denied Hamar's request for
Parker's release.

The jury acquitted co-defendants Christine Whitney, 27, of Redondo Beach,
and Pamela Gray, 44, of Hermosa Beach on June 18. Both had been charged with
possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy.

Prosecutors claimed Parker also used a former girlfriend, Monica Pitto, to
sell the drug. Pitto, a recovering cocaine addict, pleaded guilty to a
conspiracy charge and testified for the prosecution that Parker sold her
cocaine that she later re-sold.

Parker, who denied selling drugs to Ms. Pitto, testified during the six-week
trial that Ms. Pitto, a former Citibank banker, asked him to store large
amounts of cash for her. He said she "assured me that it wasn't anything
illegal, that it was a legitimate business transaction" involving wealthy
Middle Eastern clients. He said she paid him $500 for his trouble.

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