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Expensive informant fails in drug case 'Entrapment' defense sways jury decision By David Preszler of the Mail Tribune Nine months of work by an immigration scofflaw and convicted felon, who made more than $350,000 working as a federal set-up man, failed to net a conviction Friday night. A Honduran national who lives in Medford admitted delivering methamphetamine to the informant and was implicated by photos and tape recordings. But he was acquitted on federal drug charges amid evidence that he was entrapped by the "manipulative" government snitch. Jose Anibal Reyes-Joyas, 40, dodged a prison sentence of 10 years to life when a jury found him innocent of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and of delivering seven pounds of the drug in five deals between Nov. 13, 1998, and June 15, 1999. He sobbed in the arms of his attorney as the verdict was read; his girlfriend in the gallery cried so loudly that bailiffs had to ask that she quiet down. Craig Weinerman, the Eugene public defender who represented Reyes-Joyas, called the verdict he fought for "unexpected." "It's always tough to fight the government," Weinerman said. "This jury was unbelievable. They saw the unfairness of the situation." Several jury members contacted after the verdict declined to comment. Phil Fong, the prosecutor for the U.S. attorney's office, also declined to comment. The verdict, reached just after 8 p.m., marked the end of an extraordinary, weeklong trial in U.S. District Court. A criminal trial in Medford's federal court is a rarity in itself; in most federal criminal cases here, the defendants either plead guilty or the indictments are dropped. The U.S. attorney's office said that of the 180 people who have been indicted over the past three years, Reyes-Joyas is just the fourth to go to trial. Though Reyes-Joyas was on trial, much of the attention focused on the government informant, Carlos Hernandez, an illegal alien that the defense argued would have been deported long ago were he not useful to the DEA. "His ability to stay in this country," Weinerman said in his closing argument, "depends on his cooperation with the DEA." Since he began working as an informant in 1993, the 52-year-old Hernandez has been paid $357,000 by the DEA and has not paid taxes on any of it, according to evidence in the the trial. That includes $92,000 he made in a Southern Oregon sting that began in August 1998 and ended in June 1999 with the arrest of Reyes-Joyas and seven other people. Reyes-Joyas was not the target of the DEA sting, but agents were hoping he would lead them to larger dealers. Before becoming an informant, Hernandez himself was convicted on drug charges in 1985 and fled the U.S. for his native Mexico in 1990 after an arrest warrant was issued, charging him with an probation violation. He returned to the U.S. after working as DEA informant in Mexico. Wienerman also argued in court that Hernandez used drugs while working as a DEA informant. "He's almost on a taxpayer-subsidized party," the defense attorney argued. "The hypocrisy of making cases for the DEA while using the drugs he's helping arrest people for selling." Hernandez struck up a friendship with Reyes-Joyas at Las Margaritas Restaurant in downtown Medford, where Reyes-Joyas worked as a bartender and singer. As the friendship developed, Hernandez approached Reyes-Joyas about buying drugs. The informant told Reyes-Joyas that he needed money to buy a ranch. Once he bought the ranch, he promised Reyes-Joyas a job there. The defense argued that Reyes-Joyas tried to resist Hernandez's suggestions. It also argued that the informant used his knowledge of Latin culture to form a brotherlike bond with Reyes-Joyas. Reyes-Joyas, who came to the United States legally in 1997, was portrayed as a naive newcomer who trusted Hernandez. Reyes-Joyas eventually agreed to set up drug buys, the first of which took place Nov. 13. On that day and three other times between November and March, Reyes-Joyas admitted arranging the purchase of and delivering a half-pound of methamphetamine. On June 15, Hernandez and Reyes-Joyas arranged a much larger purchase of 10 pounds of methamphetamine. But Reyes-Joyas delivered only five pounds before he was arrested. He led federal drug agents to five more pounds. Based on statements made by Fong in his closing argument, the street value of the 17 pounds of methamphetamine was $450,000. Fong, the prosecutor, made little effort to defend Hernandez in his closing arguments. "This informant case is dirty, dirty business," he said. But Fong urged the jurors to look at the whole picture. He said Reyes-Joyas' actions showed that he was the one driving the drug deals. "It's the defendant that's calling the shots," he said. "Remember this," he said in closing: "Who's the person on trial here?" After the verdict, Weinerman said the decision showed that the law does protect "little people" like Reyes-Joyas. "The entrapment defense is designed to protect the weak from predators like Hernandez." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA