United States v. Stephen F. Ellender, Jim Swope, Roger Dale Collins, and Jim Bourgeois, United States of America v. Carl Tangredi

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge.

These appeals are the remnants of an ambitious drug prosecution involving a cast of 187 defendants, scores of witnesses, numerous sailing vessels, many thousands of pounds of marijuana, and hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. Courtroom spectators heard accounts of great intrigue spanning several years and involving colorful characters, including a certain deposed Central American dictator. Twenty-three defendants, less than a sixth of the named defendants, were eventually tried. As the dust settled in the specially-modified courtroom, only a handful of defendants…