Key Drug Ring Suspects’ Bail Set at $500,000 Each

Bail was set at $500,000 each for three men suspected of being the West Coast ringleaders of what authorities call a “significant” drug ring responsible for smuggling cocaine into the United States.

Defense attorneys and Asst. U.S. Atty. Maria Arroyo Tabin reached an agreement on bail Friday after Arroyo had argued at a hearing last week that the men be held without bail. Attorneys for both sides spent all day in court Friday hammering out an agreement.

Augustin Fernando Maurtua, a Peruvian national, and North County residents Michael Jay Sullivan and Frank Len Jackson were charged by federal prosecutors with running a major South American cocaine distribution ring in the United States. Authorities said that Maurtua, 26, is the ring’s West Coast leader, while Sullivan, 27, and Jackson, 37, are his major distributors.

Authorities have charged 98 persons, most of them North County residents, with being members of the ring. Jose Antonio Ledgard, 27, who remains jailed in Miami, was identified by Drug Enforcement Administration officials as being the ring’s East Coast chieftain.

Despite the steep bail, defense attorneys viewed the compromise as a victory of sorts. It is the first step in getting their clients released while awaiting trial, they said.

“You would have to assume that setting a bail is as good as we’re going to do,” said Victor Sherman, a Los Angeles attorney representing Maurtua. However, Sherman said that it is unlikely that Maurtua will be able to post bail.