Judge Sets Bail for Jailed Ex-DEA Agent

Overriding objections by prosecutors, a federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday set bail at $1 million for a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who has spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial in a major corruption case that rocked the agency.

The defendant, John Jackson, 40, of Claremont, could be released as soon as next week from the Metropolitan Detention Center if there is no problem with property pledges from his friends and relatives who are putting together the bail package.

Under guidelines set down by U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jackson would be required to have his movements monitored electronically and would need special permission to leave his home.

Hatter said he was concerned about the conditions under which Jackson was being held since his arrest, which included being placed in a special prison unit away from other inmates.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Joyce Karlin unsuccessfully argued that Jackson should remain in custody because he “is a flight risk and may be a danger to the community” as well as to witnesses in the case.

Jackson is a defendant along with two other former Los Angeles-based DEA agents, Darnell Garcia, 42, of Rancho Palos Verdes, and Wayne Countryman, 46, of Walnut.

The three, plus Jackson’s wife, Barbara, 41, and Jackson’s former business partner, Sherman Lair, 39, of Alta Loma, are charged in a 42-count indictment with participating in a money-laundering and drug-trafficking scheme.

Barbara Jackson’s attorney, John Yzurdiaga, said “she’ll be thrilled to pieces” to have her husband out after being incarcerated since November of 1988.

Hatter has set an April 17 trial date for the five defendants.

The indictment stemmed from the suspected theft of more than five pounds of Asian heroin--with an estimated street sale value of $7.5 million--from the DEA’s safe in Los Angeles. It led to allegations that drug traffickers had been tipped off about DEA investigations into their activities and that the agents had participated in international money laundering.

If Jackson is released on bail, only Garcia will remain in prison. A fugitive for seven months, Garcia was arrested last July in Luxembourg.

Garcia is scheduled to complete his sentence in a few weeks, but a U.S. extradition request to Luxembourg to return him to Los Angeles for trial is expected to block his release, according to government sources here and in Luxembourg.