Missing Prosecutor Is Found Dead in Pennsylvania

Missing Prosecutor Is Found Dead in Pennsylvania By BRIAN KNOWLTON International Herald Tribune

Published: December 4, 2003

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 — The body of a federal prosecutor was found in a Pennsylvania field today, hours after he had failed to show up at the court in Baltimore where he had been prosecuting a rap-music artist on drug charges.

Jonathan P. Luna, 38, an assistant United States attorney, died after he suffered multiple stab and gunshot wounds, said Judge William D. Quarles Jr., who was trying the drug case in federal district court.

"At this time, the evidence indicates that he was murdered," said Thomas M. DiBiagio, the United States attorney for Maryland.

But Mr. DiBiagio provided few details, and law-enforcement officials did not indicate whether the death of Mr. Luna might be connected to any of the cases that Mr. Luna prosecuted.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation began a search for Mr. Luna earlier in the day after he missed the court appearance. His body was found near Lancaster, Pa., about 50 miles from Baltimore.

CNN televised an aerial scene of the site where it said Mr. Luna's body was found. It showed a car on the edge of an apparently rural road, from which a flat, grassy area about 100 feet by 40 feet had been taped off.

Mr. DiBiagio, appearing grim-faced at a brief televised news conference in Baltimore, vowed that local and federal authorities would work closely together to solve the case, and he asked members of the public to contact police if they knew anything about Mr. Luna's death.

"Let there be no doubt, let there be no doubt that everyone in law enforcement — local police, state police, the United States Marshal's Service, A.T.F., F.B.I. — are united," Mr. DiBiagio said.

"We will find out who did this," he added, "and we are dedicated to bringing the person responsible for this tragedy to justice."

Atttorney General John D. Ashcroft extended his "deepest condolences" and said that "all appropriate resources will be dedicated to investigating this matter."

Contacted by telephone, Dr. Barry D. Walp, the coroner in Lancaster County, Pa., declined to provide details about Mr. Luna's death, referring questions to Mr. DiBiagio's office.

Lancaster County, which is largely rural, is home to the deeply traditional farming and crafts-centered communities of Amish and Mennonites.

The death came during a week in which Mr. Luna had been prosecuting drug charges against the rap singer Deon Lionnel Smith, 32, who uses the stage name Papi Jenkinz, and a former associate, Walter Oriley Poindexter, 28.

The men are accused of operating a heroin ring, partly from their Stash House Records studio, a small business that closed after Mr. Smith's arrest in the spring.

Prosecutors and the two men's defense lawyers had negotiated a plea agreement on Wednesday evening, and the two men entered guilty pleas shortly before noon Eastern time today. They remain in custody.

Mr. Smith agreed to plead guilty to one count of heroin distribution and to possessing a weapon for the purpose of drug trafficking. Mr. Poindexter agreed to plead guilty to three counts of heroin distribution.

When Judge Quarles asked about Mr. Luna this morning, two prosecutors told the judge that the F.B.I. was searching for him.

The judge later described Mr. Luna as "a wonderful young man, responsible, charming and highly intelligent" who had "genuine trial skills." Mr. Luna was married and had two children.

In the opening days of Mr. Smith's trial, which began on Monday, Mr. Luna described Mr. Smith as a supplier for a highly organized drug ring that sold heroin in northwest Baltimore under the street name "9-1-1."

Mr. Luna told the jury that it would hear recordings of Mr. Smith and Mr. Poindexter made secretly last year by a former associate of the two, Warren Grace, who had agreed to cooperate.

Mr. Luna, a New York City native who had worked as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, had been in Baltimore for several years.

He handled another high-profile case recently: that of a man who plotted to burn down a house to force six Mexican men out of a neighborhood. Mr. Luna also prosecuted the case of three men charged as part of a violent drug ring. All the defendants entered guilty pleas.