Sixty-six alleged members of a West Coast...

Sixty-six alleged members of a West Coast cocaine smuggling ring pleaded innocent Monday when they were arraigned in U.S. District Court. The defendants were arraigned in groups of 15 before U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving. One defense attorney said prosecutor Maria Arroyo-Tabin indicated that the case may not go to trial for months. Other defense attorneys, who minimized their clients’ involvement in the ring, argued for speedy trials. Irving said he might rule on a motion for a speedy trial for one defendant on April 9, when he also will hear arguments from both sides about the government’s decision to expunge information that is included in wiretap affidavits. Defense attorneys have not received copies of the affidavits and argued against censoring them on grounds that they need to study the documents to determine if the wiretaps were legal. Three men described by federal authorities as the principal members of the ring--Augustin Fernando Maurtua, Frank Len Jackson and Michael Jay Sullivan--remain in custody, unable to post $500,000 bond. Maurtua, a Peruvian national, is alleged to be the West Coast head of a South American smuggling ring that brought cocaine into this country from Peru and Colombia. Jose Antonio Ledgard, another Peruvian national and the ring’s alleged East Coast chieftain, is scheduled to be transferred to San Diego today from federal custody in Miami.