L.J. O'Neale was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in [[San Diego]] who prosecuted [[Ricky Ross|"Freeway" Ricky Ross]] on federal cocaine conspiracy charges and served as the government's lead attorney throughout the 1996 trial.[^1] ### Prosecution of Ricky Ross O'Neale secured [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]]'s cooperation as the government's chief witness against Ross. He filed motions to have Blandón's sentence secretly reduced twice and persuaded the court to release him entirely, stating Blandón was needed as a "full-time paid informant" for the [[Department of Justice]]. During a 1995 grand jury hearing, O'Neale asked Blandón's DEA case agent [[Chuck Jones]] whether Blandón was "considered to be probably the largest Nicaraguan cocaine dealer in the United States." Jones replied: "I believe so, sir."[^1] ### Motion to Suppress CIA Testimony Before the trial, O'Neale filed a motion to prevent any mention of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] in the courtroom, writing: "The United States believes that at least one defendant will attempt to assert to the effect that the informant in this case sold cocaine to raise money for the Nicaraguan Contras and that he did so in conjunction with, or for, the Central Intelligence Agency." O'Neale's most striking phrase was: "This matter, if true, would be classified." His legal basis was that defense attorney [[Alan Fenster]] had not filed the required notice to alert the government that he might reveal classified information at trial.[^2] During sidebar discussions with Federal Judge [[Marilyn Huff]], O'Neale admitted that Blandón had gotten into the drug business by selling cocaine for the Contras but insisted there was "absolutely no connection between Blandón and the CIA." When Judge Huff asked whether Blandón was "never authorized to do that by a CIA agent," O'Neale hedged: "That's something I'm not even sure I can say 'Yes' or 'No' to because that comes within the realm of." He later admitted he had never actually checked with the CIA about Blandón's connections: "No, I haven't checked with the CIA. I've had no cause to check with the CIA."[^2] ### Trial Conduct During the trial, O'Neale led Blandón through testimony that progressively moved the date he claimed to have stopped selling cocaine for the Contras, from 1986 to 1984 to 1982, an apparent attempt to create distance between Blandón's Contra cocaine dealing and his sales to the [[Crips]] and Bloods. O'Neale also objected repeatedly when Alan Fenster cross-examined Blandón about his Contra connections, at one point shouting: "Excuse me, I have an objection! Relevance! Inflammatory language!" When O'Neale waved a copy of the morning's [[Los Angeles Times|L.A. Times]] and accused defense lawyers of leaking confidential information, Federal Public Defender Maria Forde pointed out the document was already part of the public record, filed as an exhibit in Fenster's motion. O'Neale was forced to apologize.[^2] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 23: "He had the backing of a superpower" [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 26: "That matter, if true, would be classified"