LOS ANGELES -- Nightclub owner Adel 'Eddie Nash' Nasrallah, named as a suspect in four bludgeon killings in Laurel Canyon last year but never charged, was convicted today of possessing $1 million worth of cocaine for sale.
The seven-man, five-woman Superior Court jury deliberated about seven hours before telling the judge Tuesday night it had reached a verdict, which the panel announced today.
Nasrallah was ordered held on $5 million bail.
Nasrallah admitted possessing the cocaine, but his lawyer claimed it was not for sale but for Nasrallah's personal use. Nasrallah faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison when he appears for sentencing Nov. 5, while possession for personal use carries a four-year term.
Drug experts testified the confiscated cocaine was 'as good as is imported into this country.' Prosecutor Ron Coen told jurors the only reasonable conclusion they could draw was that the cocaine was intended 'for sale and re-sale.'
Nasrallah is also suspected by police, but has never been charged, of ordering the beating deaths of four persons at a home in Laurel Canyon in the summer of 1981.
Porno star John Holmes has admitted leading the killers to the house, but refused to say who ordered or committed the slayings, which allegedly were in retaliation for a burglary at Nasrallah's home. Holmes was acquitted of the murders, but remains in jail on contempt charges for refusing to testify before a grand jury.
