Indictment Cites 13 as Smugglers of 26 Tons of Pot

Nine Orange County residents, including a Tustin attorney, are among 13 people indicted in the alleged smuggling of at least 26 tons of marijuana to the West Coast from Southeast Asia, U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner announced Thursday.

Federal agents said the ring transported the drug in several shiploads between 1984 and 1987, usually transferring their illicit cargo to smaller vessels before landing in San Francisco.

The 30-count indictment, which also alleges several conspiracies to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and violate federal tax laws, was unsealed late Wednesday after the arrests of five of the defendants.

A sixth, Tustin attorney Neil C. Pearson, 50, surrendered to federal authorities Thursday morning. All were arraigned Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Venetta Tassopulos in Los Angeles.

At the request of Assistant U.S. Attys. Steven D. Clymer and Russell Hayman, Tassopulos set bail for Pearson at $1 million. Pearson’s attorney, James Riddet, called the amount an “absolute outrage” and said his client had made himself available to federal prosecutors almost from the beginning of the 18-month investigation.

Pearson could not raise the $1-million bail, Riddet said, and was being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.

According to the indictment, former Maui resident William Uhler, 39, now a resident of the Orange County, community of Sunset Beach, and Eugene LaForce, 53, of Cave Junction, Ore., organized and directed at least four major marijuana shipments.

Uhler, LaForce, longtime Maui resident Walter M. Hillinger, 56, and others allegedly brought eight tons from Thailand aboard a ship named the Lloyd B. George in September of 1984, transferring it off the coast of Mendocino County to two smaller vessels that carried it to San Francisco.

Arrested in Hawaii

Hillinger was arrested Thursday morning in Hawaii, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Another seven tons of marijuana allegedly was brought to California in 1985 aboard the Lady Fame, an 80-foot oil supply vessel whose ownership reportedly was traced to a partnership that included several names from the obituary columns of the Orange County Register. Federal authorities said the ring went to great lengths to cover up ownership of the vessels.

In 1987, the prosecutors said, Uhler, LaForce and the others smuggled 11 more tons of marijuana from Thailand to a point between Hawaii and Tahiti, where it was put aboard another vessel, the Natalie Rose, and carried to the West Coast.

In addition to the drug charges, Uhler, Pearson, Cypress income tax preparer Dovie M. Briggs, 56, who is Uhler’s mother-in-law, and Terry P. Dee, 47, of Seal Beach, former owner of Faber Laboratories, a Fullerton business that tested crankcase oil, were indicted on federal income tax charges.

Uher and Dee are accused of knowingly signing false returns for 1984 through 1987. Dee allegedly arranged to have Faber send regular payments to Uhler so that he would appear to have a legitimate income. Uhler then repaid Dee and his wife, Jeanne, 34, in cash, according to the indictment.

Millions in Drug Money

The indictment also charges Pearson, Dee and Briggs with conspiring with Uhler to help him conceal millions of dollars of drug income. Pearson is alleged to have held title to a Maui house that Uhler purchased in 1984 for $375,000. The federal government seized proceeds from the house when it was sold in June of 1988.

Briggs’ husband, Clyde, said he had not seen his wife for two days and learned from a friend that she had been arrested. “She’s innocent as hell,” he insisted. “She hasn’t even smoked a Camel cigarette in her life.”

Others indicted were Larry A. Doyle, 49, of Newport Beach; Charles E. Larsen, 45, of Costa Mesa; Martin E. Levine, 49, of New York City and San Francisco; Michael A. Tzouanakis, 35, of Costa Mesa; Walter M. Ulrich, 39, of Sunset Beach, and Dennis Tobin, 33, of Morro Bay.

Ferried Cash

Federal prosecutors said Levine helped organize the smuggling trips and that Doyle oversaw loading of one of the ships. Tzouanakis purportedly ferried cash to Southeast Asia to pay expenses. Larsen was accused of skippering two of the vessels and Tobin reportedly was a crew member.

Ulrich is already serving a 15-year sentence in Thailand for marijuana smuggling, Clymer said. The five others still are being sought.

Uhler, LaForce, Pearson and Ulrich face possible life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

On Thursday afternoon, Tassopulos ordered Tzouanakis held without bail. She set bail for Terry Dee at $750,000, for his wife at $50,000 and for Briggs at $100,000. Uhler was to remain in jail overnight and have a bail hearing today.

Times staff writer George Smith contributed to this article.