Local News in Brief : Drug Figure Convicted
Reputed millionaire drug lord Leonardo Subias, a key suspect in the 1985 torture-murder of a U.S. narcotics agent in Mexico, was convicted Thursday on 8-year-old cocaine trafficking charges.
Jurors in the two-day trial in federal court in Los Angeles took only three hours to convict Subias of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the distribution of one kilogram of cocaine in April, 1980.
Subias, 42, who is also suspected of murdering three Mexican police officials, was convicted of assisting the sale of one kilogram of cocaine to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent at a Monterey Park house on April 8, 1980.
A Texas and Oklahoma cattle rancher reportedly worth millions in real estate and jewels, Subias fled Los Angeles in July, 1980, after being released on bail and was not recaptured by U.S. authorities until his April 1, 1988, arrest in Salt Lake City, where he was negotiating to buy a $500,000 house.
He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine when he is sentenced Aug. 24 by U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer.
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