Mistrial Declared in Drug-Money Case : Courts: Jurors deadlock on charges that Otoniel Urrego laundered funds sent to Colombia. The prosecutor plans to retry him.

A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the biggest drug-money laundering case in Ventura County history after jurors informed the court that they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Although favoring conviction 10 to 2 on a conspiracy charge and 8 to 4 on drug money possession charges against Otoniel Urrego, the jury of eight women and four men told Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell that they could not resolve their differences and reach a unanimous verdict.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Grunert said his office will retry Urrego. Campbell scheduled a March 4 hearing to decide how the case should proceed.

Outside the courtroom, some jurors said they were confused by the myriad of charts in the case, the legal definition of possession and the inability of the prosecution to place Urrego in Ventura County in 1989, when investigators contend that millions of dollars in cocaine money was being channeled to Colombia from Simi Valley.

But other jurors said they were convinced that Urrego was working out of his home near Miami, Fla., to coordinate the shipment of drug money not only from Southern California but also from New York, Chicago and Denver.

“I personally feel the evidence was overwhelming,” jury foreman Jeffrey Miller of Camarillo said. “It was all circumstantial, but it was overwhelming.”

Another juror, who did not want to be identified, said Urrego was “dirty as a dog rolling in mud.”

Urrego, 64, is charged with conspiracy to transport cocaine into the state for sale and possession of more than $100,000 in drug money. The possession charge is tied to the seizure of $2.5 million in cash in May, 1989, when Urrego’s brother and two sisters-in-law were arrested in Simi Valley and Chatsworth.

Grunert told jurors during the trial that Urrego was the liaison between Colombia and several cells of operation set up near major U. S. metropolitan areas to funnel money to the Medellin drug cartel. In the two months that the Simi Valley cell was in operation, $25 million was sent to Colombia, Grunert said during the trial.

Urrego was charged only with activities related to the Simi Valley cell. Although he was not in California when the known criminal activity was going on, Urrego was guilty under an aiding-and-abetting theory, Grunert argued during the trial.

Defense attorney Terrence A. Roden of Los Angeles argued that Urrego was not involved in the Simi Valley operation.

“He’s absolutely not guilty of anything--that’s the bottom line,” Roden said after the mistrial was declared.

A key prosecution witness during the trial was Luz Urrego, Otoniel’s sister-in-

law and one of those arrested when the money was confiscated. She pleaded guilty in July, 1992, to possession of drug money in exchange for a promise of leniency from prosecutors if she was a witness against Otoniel.

Luz Urrego testified that Otoniel Urrego was closely involved in the drug-money operation. She also said he once told her that if she ever was arrested, she should remain silent and he would take care of her.

Luz Urrego’s testimony on some subjects was impeached by defense attorney Roden.

“For what it’s worth, she didn’t help your case,” a male juror who did not want to be identified told Grunert outside the courtroom.

“There’s no question she didn’t help the case,” Grunert replied. “The best I could do was neutralize” her testimony.

Miller said deliberations became heated at times, especially after jurors notified Campbell last week that they were hopelessly deadlocked and the judge ordered them to continue deliberating. The panel took a one-week break from their deliberations, and when they returned to court Wednesday, a full day of discussions failed to change anyone’s vote, Miller said.

Some jurors said they were convinced that Urrego was involved in money laundering in other states in 1990 and 1991, but they believed that there was insufficient evidence to show that he took part in the Simi Valley operation in 1989.

“I should have made a stronger argument that you don’t just slide into the Colombian drug cartel as a boss,” Grunert said.

Floriberto Urrego, the defendant’s brother, and Floriberto’s wife, Marta, who were arrested when the $2.5 million was confiscated, are in Colombia and cannot be prosecuted unless they return to this country, officials said.

Otoniel Urrego is in Ventura County Jail, where he is being held in lieu of $1-million bail.