2 Brothers From Orange County Go to Trial on Federal Cocaine Charges

Two brothers from Orange County went on trial Tuesday on federal cocaine charges stemming from a raid that prosecutors said broke up a major Colombian drug ring.

Daniel Serrano, 39, of Laguna Hills, and Hernando Serrano, 41, of Anaheim, are among six defendants facing conspiracy and cocaine possession charges in connection with the raid in September, 1985, on a drug laboratory at a remote Central California ranch.

Daniel Serrano, a former technician for Xerox Corp., was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in another 220-pound cocaine deal. His brother, Hernando, a former Rockwell International Corp. computer engineer, allegedly helped set up a cocaine manufacturing laboratory on the Tuolumne County ranch about 80 miles north of Fresno, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

The brothers were among 10 men indicted in August by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. Six were arrested and are standing trial. Four defendants, including the man considered the top official in the cocaine ring, have fled the country and are believed to be in Colombia, federal prosecutors said.

“This case is about a corporation that manufactures a product,” Assistant U.S. Atty. John S. Gordon told the jury in his opening statement. “But the corporation isn’t registered . . . it’s a Colombian cocaine manufacturing business.”

Gordon said the organization had “purchasing agents” buying ether, acetone and hydrochloric acid from a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., chemical company. It also had “factory workers” trained to use the chemicals to process raw cocaine into a finished product destined for sale in Los Angeles. Federal agents said they seized 35 pounds of cocaine when they raided the ranch last year.

“Hernando (Serrano) was one of the executive vice presidents,” Gordon said.

But Serrano’s defense attorney painted a dramatically different picture of Hernando Serrano’s involvement in the alleged cocaine manufacturing conspiracy.

In his opening statement, Brian O’Neill told the jury that HernandoSerrano was a “weekend pilot” who agreed to fly friends to Central California because they were interested in buying ranch property for cattle grazing. He said Serrano was never involved in any criminal activities.

“He is a man of impeccable integrity and honesty,” said O’Neill, adding that Serrano was on the Rockwell team that helped launch the first five NASA Space Shuttle missions. A Rockwell spokesman said Serrano worked for the company from September, 1976, to July, 1986. He could not confirm whether Serrano had worked on the shuttle missions.

O’Neill said the government’s case “sinks or swims on the testimony of Henry Baker Turley,” the rancher who allegedly agreed to help the Serranos set up the laboratory on his property. Turley has pleaded guilty to federal cocaine charges and has agreed to be a government witness.

“Turley is apparently a jet pilot who smuggled drugs from Iran, from Singapore and South America,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said Turley arranged to steal part of the cocaine being processed by the Colombians and considered killing one of the defendants, Nelson Guzman.

In opening remarks Tuesday, the prosecutor said the raid came as a result of information provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by a Tuolumne County deputy sheriff working under cover. Meanwhile, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, acting on information gathered by other agents in Florida, followed the shipment of chemicals from Florida to California.

Neither Turley nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

In April, Hernando Serrano appeared at his brother Daniel’s sentencing hearing to ask U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson for leniency. At that time, Hernando Serrano disputed Gordon’s claim that money from cocaine sales had provided the cash for Daniel Serrano to purchase three southern Orange County luxury homes. Hernando Serrano said the funds came from a family cattle business in Colombia.

Soon after Daniel Serrano was indicted, the U.S. attorney’s office filed civil suits to seize three Orange County properties belonging to Daniel Serrano and one belonging to a girlfriend of one of the fugitive defendants.

The properties, located in Laguna Beach, El Toro and Laguna Niguel, are worth about $1.2 million, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Caroline M. Reynolds. Federal law permits the seizure of property involved in criminal activity.