The prosecutor responsible for convicting reputed cocaine kingpin Carlos Lehder Rivas says the powerful Medellin Cartel's days are now numbered, but a defense lawyer predicts the verdict will be overturned. Lehder was convicted Thursday of smuggling more than three tons of cocaine into the United States. Authorities say the 38-year-old Colombian was a key figure in the cartel, a violent drug ring responsible for about 80 percent of U.S. cocaine imports. The flamboyant Lehder, described by witnesses as a one-time New York City street hood, was characterized by U.S. Attorney Robert W. Merkle, chief prosecutor in the case, as the most important drug smuggler brought to trial in the United States. The verdict capped a seven-month trial on an 11-count federal indictment charging him with taking over the island of Norman's Cay in the Bahamas to smuggle cocaine into Florida and Georgia from 1978 to 1980.
