SMUGGLER: Barry Seal

On July 27, 1984, 10 days after The Washington Times exposed Seal as an undercover operative of the DEA, a grand jury in Miami indicted Escobar, Lehder, Rodriguez-Gacha, and Jorge Ochoa in the Nicaragua case. All four were charged with conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States and operating a continuing criminal enterprise. The charges carried with them the possibility of a life sentence.

Meanwhile, Barry Seal's legal troubles were far from over, despite risking his life repeatedly for the government.

In the summer of 1984, a federal grand jury in Baton Rouge indicted Seal for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 200 kilos of cocaine and for violating federal banking laws. Seal, already on probation for two smuggling convictions in Florida, was once again looking at going to prison.

In typical Barry Seal fashion, he went on the offensive. Seal contacted Baton Rouge television station WBRZ to complain about the government's treatment of him. After hearing Seal's story, investigative reporter John Camp produced an hour-long special about Seal called Uncle Sam Wants You.

The program aired in September and confirmed for the Medellin cartel, the leaders of which were now in hiding, that their pilot and friend was a government snitch.