
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990                   TAG: 9003221773
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI                                 LENGTH: Medium

NORIEGA AIDE IN PLEA DEAL

A co-defendant prosecutors say could tie Manuel Noriega directly to drug payoffs has agreed in principle to plead guilty to a drug conspiracy count, his attorney said Wednesday.

Luis del Cid, 46, was a lieutenant colonel in the Panamanian military and a top aide to Noriega when the two were captured during the U.S. invasion in December.

Del Cid "acted as a liaison and money courier between drug traffickers and Manuel Antonio Noriega," the U.S. attorney's office has said.

His defense attorney, Samuel Burstyn, said he negotiated with the government almost from the time of del Cid's capture, but only recently settled on a plea bargain.

Final details of the deal should go before a federal judge soon, Burstyn said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, Diane Cossin, said she could not confirm the deal.

Burstyn refused to say if del Cid will take the stand against Noriega, but such understandings are normal in most plea agreements. And previously, Burstyn has said that a guilty plea would permit the prosecution to subpoena his client, and would prevent del Cid from using the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying.

Noriega's attorney Steven Kollin did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press. When the possibility of a del Cid deal was first reported last month, Kollin said his client would be unhurt "as long as del Cid tells the truth."

Burstyn said one of the key sticking points in the negotiations was del Cid's probable prison term. Under the indictment, del Cid faced a possible 70 years in prison, and after his capture, he rejected an initial prosecution offer of 40 years in return for a guilty plea.

Under the agreement finally reached, he would face a maximum 10 years in prison on the single conspiracy count, but is unlikely to serve that long, Burstyn said.

"There's no time limit in the agreement, but I believe he'll serve no more than 2 1/2 years," the attorney said.

by CNB