MIAMI -- Just when it appeared a second federal jury was deadlocked in the 'Miami River Cops' drug case, the panel convicted two former officers and brought sighs of relief from the tarnished Miami Police Department.
Police Chief Clarence Dickson said that when word of the verdict reached police headquarters, 'A great deal of relief just came out through the halls of the building.'
'This shows that we can pursue corruption and we can be open with it and we can get a guilty verdict by jury,' he said.
The convictions by the federal jury Tuesday came after 11 days of deliberations in a trial that began Dec. 7. Twice the jurors told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Ryskamp they were hopelessly deadlocked. He asked them to keep trying.
Mario Carballo, 32, was convicted of all five racketeering, conspiracy and drug charges he faced.
Osvaldo Coello, 27, was convicted of six similar charges, but was acquitted on three civil rights charges involving the deaths of three drug smugglers who drowned in the Miami River during a police drug theft in July 1985.
Coello's defense lawyer, Reemberto Diaz, said he was pleased his client was acquitted in the deaths, but disappointed about the other convictions.
'We are saddened by the outcome of what I consider the compromise verdict on the remainder of the counts,' he said.
'He is pleased that he has finally been found innocent of murder in the first-degree on those three counts, but he does feel that after 11 days, the verdict on the remainder of the indictment, it was a compromise in order to reach a decision today,' Diaz said.
Defense attorney Laurie Beloff said Carballo was prepared for the guilty verdict.
'Mario was resigned to whatever was going to happen,' Beloff said. 'He took it very silently and very stoically. His family was prepared for this.'
Both lawyers said they plan to appeal the verdict.
Coello was one of the original seven police defendants whose initial 3 -month trial in January 1987 ended with a deadlocked jury. The officers came to be known as the 'River Cops' because most of their drug thefts occurred on the Miami River.
Of the 19 officers or former officers who have been charged in the case, two are fugitives, three are awaiting trial, three have been convicted and 11 pleaded guilty.
Dickson said 72 officers have been relieved of duty -- 38 in the federal probe of rampant corruption within the Miami Police Department. Another 21 officers are suspended and under investigation.
'We've identified anyone who was involved,' Dickson said. 'We have our hands on them. We know who they are and we're dealing with the fallout right now.'
TheFBI in Washington has issued identification orders that will be circulated worldwide seeking the arrests of Armando Garcia, 26, and Victor Zapata, 29, and Garcia's father, Toribio Dagoberto Garcia, 49. All have been indicted on racketeering, drug and conspiracy charges.
Those awaiting trial include Ricardo Perez, 24, Francisco Pardo, 31, and Nelson Bacallao, 39.
Sentencing for Coello and Carballo was set for March 25. Each faces a maximum penalty of 100 years in prison.
Coello rejected a plea bargain from prosecutors Monday to drop seven of the nine charges he faced if he pleaded guilty to two counts of cocaine conspiracy. If he had accepted the deal he would have faced a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
Diaz said they felt the plea offer was fashioned too hastily, allowing little time for the defense to consider. Nevertheless, the offer was moot because Coello already had decided to wait for the jury's verdict, he said.
