The State : Slain Dealer’s Conviction Cut

A federal judge, reluctantly and under orders of a federal appeal court, wiped off the books the federal drug conspiracy convictions of slain Oakland drug lord Felix Mitchell. In a strange twist of the law, Mitchell’s 1985 drug convictions, which toppled him as Oakland’s drug czar, were ordered vacated posthumously by an appeal court in January, 1987, because Mitchell died in prison before an appeal to his convictions could be heard. But until Thursday, no federal district judge in San Francisco would carry out the appeal court’s order. As a result of the ruling, the government is prevented from seizing a $400,000 house that was allegedly purchased with the profits of Mitchell’s heroin trafficking, officials said. For seven years Mitchell headed the 69 Mob, leading a flashy life style of driving through Oakland housing projects in Rolls-Royce autos and having his henchmen pay children to act as lookouts in his drug-selling operation.