Prosecutor's body found

BALTIMORE -- A federal prosecutor was found shot and stabbed to death in Pennsylvania on Thursday after failing to show up at the trial of an aspiring rapper and his former associate accused of dealing heroin, the judge in the case said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan P. Luna, 38, suffered multiple stab and gunshot wounds, said U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr.

Authorities had launched a search earlier in the day after Luna did not show up for court. His body was discovered in Lancaster County, Pa., about 50 miles from Baltimore.

Luna was trying the case of Baltimore rapper Deon Lionnel Smith, 32, and his one-time associate Walter Oriley Poindexter, 28. The two men were accused of heroin distribution and running a violent drug ring in part from their Stash House Records studio.

Luna and the defense attorneys negotiated through the afternoon Wednesday and reached a plea deal about 5 p.m., Quarles said. The men entered their guilty pleas about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, and they remained in custody.

Smith agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of heroin and to possession of a weapon for the purposes of drug trafficking. Poindexter agreed to plead guilty to three counts of distribution of heroin to a government witness.

The parties were expected to appear Thursday morning to enter the agreement, but Luna was not present, the judge said. Two other prosecutors told Quarles they were "out of touch" with Luna and that the FBI had begun looking for him.

Luna was married and had two children. Luna is from the Bronx section of New York City and attended law school at the University of North Carolina. He was an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., before coming to Baltimore.

The judge described Luna as a "wonderful young man, responsible, charming and highly intelligent. He had genuine trial skills as a lawyer and juries loved him."

Ravenell knew Luna, calling him as "a good friend."

"I was kind of his mentor in many ways," Ravenell said. "He'd call me often and discuss things outside of what we did on cases."

Attorney General John Ashcroft called it a "tragic death."

"I express our deepest condolences to Jonathan's family, colleagues and friends," Ashcroft said. "We share his family's grief and will provide any support and assistance to help them through this difficult time.

Luna had also prosecuted cases against a man who videotaped a neighbor child as she slept in her home and against a man who plotted to burn down a home to force six Mexican men out of a neighborhood. Luna also tried three men involved in a violent crack cocaine distribution network in Baltimore. All the defendants entered guilty pleas.

Other federal prosecutors have been the target of violence in the past.

Federal prosecutor Crane Wales was shot to death in Seattle three years ago in an unsolved murder. The search for the killer has focused on at least one of the cases he had prosecuted.

Federal prosecutor Larry Barcella, now in private practice, was the target of a thwarted murder-for-hire scheme by ex-CIA agent Edwin Wilson, whom Barcella had put behind bars for selling weapons and explosives to Libya.

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