Drug dealer implicates attorney in witness intimidation

[Ian David]

Drug dealer implicates attorney in witness intimidation

By John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer | November 16, 2005

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. --A major drug dealer who claims he ordered a killing to help his attorney win a case testified Wednesday that he intimidated a witness in another case after the high-profile lawyer suggested it would be helpful if the witness changed his story.

Frank "The Terminator" Estrada took the stand in federal court in the murder trial of an associate, Eddie Mercado, accused in a 1996 fatal shooting in Bridgeport.

Estrada has said that he ordered Mercado and another man to commit the killing at the suggestion of his lawyer, James Ruane, according to court documents recently filed by federal prosecutors. Aida Escalera, the woman who was shot to death, was a potential witness in another murder case in which Ruane represented the defendant.

Ruane has not been charged and denies any involvement in the woman's death. He has said Estrada is trying to win a reduced sentence by falsely implicating him. Estrada, 36, pleaded guilty last year for his role in Escalera's killing and awaits sentencing.

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