Lewis co-defendant asks federal judge to throw out drug charge

<p>A lawyer for the co-defendant in the Jamal Lewis drug conspiracy case asked a federal judge Tuesday to throw out an attempted cocaine possession charge against his client.</p><p>At a brief hearing in U.S. District Court, lawyer Steve Sadow filed a motion to dismiss the charge of attempting to possess five kilograms of cocaine with the intent to distribute against Angelo Jackson, 26, a childhood friend of Lewis, the Baltimore Ravens star running back.</p><p>The motion said the charge should be dismissed because it was originally thrown out three years ago and prosecutors did not refile it in time to honor Jackson's right to a speedy trial. Sadow also filed a motion requesting that the case be reassigned to the judge who handled the earlier charges against Jackson.</p><p>The court took the motions under advisement. No further hearings were immediately scheduled.</p><p>Lewis and Jackson, who were indicted late last month, have pleaded not guilty to charges of drug conspiracy and using a cell phone in violation of federal law. Jackson faces the additional charge of attempting to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. His motion to dismiss does not mention the other two charges.</p><p>Jackson and Lewis, the NFL offensive player of the year who had the second-highest rushing total in league history last season with 2,066 yards, face 10 years to life in prison if convicted of the drug conspiracy charge.</p><p>The FBI says an informant contacted Lewis on his cell phone on June 23, 2000, to discuss selling cocaine to Lewis and Jackson. The FBI says Lewis and Jackson later met the informant at an Atlanta restaurant. Both conversations were taped.</p><p>Jackson and the informant met several times more over the next several weeks, but Lewis was not part of any of those conversations, court papers say.</p><p>Lawyers for Lewis have accused the informant of trying to entrap their client in an effort to get out of jail time. They plan a vigorous defense.</p><p>Neither Lewis nor Jackson appeared at the 15-minute hearing Tuesday. Lewis' lawyer, Ed Garland, did not file any motions. Garland was given until April 2 to file pretrial motions, said Sonya Coggins, a clerk to Magistrate Judge Linda Walker.</p><p>Sadow, a prominent Atlanta defense lawyer, recently was hired to help defend Jackson, who also is being represented by Atlanta lawyer Robert David Botts.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/3/174153