FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1997                            (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

        RENO PICKS NEW CHIEF FOR OKLAHOMA CITY TRIAL TEAM

     WASHINGTON, DC -- Attorney General Janet Reno today
announced that federal prosecutor Larry Mackey will lead the
Oklahoma City Bombing Prosecution team during the upcoming trial
of Terry Nichols.  Mackey previously served as deputy to lead
prosecutor Joseph Hartzler during the trial of Timothy McVeigh.

     "Larry Mackey is an experienced trial lawyer and an
accomplished leader whose skills were instrumental to preparing
and arguing the government's case in the first Oklahoma City
bombing trial," said Reno. "The trial team is in very good
hands."

     Mackey, an Indiana native, has worked on the OKBOMB task
force since July, 1995.  As the deputy lead prosecutor, he
assisted Hartzler with trial strategy, jury selection, witness
questioning and case management.  He also presented the closing
argument in the guilt phase of the McVeigh trial. 

     Mackey, 46, has served as an Assistant United States
Attorney (AUSA) for the Southern District of Indiana since 1986,
including stints directing the office's Criminal Division and
Appellate Section.  He began his federal service in 1980 as an
AUSA in Springfield, Illinois, where he served as First Assistant
U.S. Attorney.  He also worked as a staff lawyer for the Illinois
Appellate Defender from 1976-77 and was an Assistant Attorney
General for the State of Illinois from 1977-1980.  In October
1995, he was selected as a Fellow with the American College of
Trial Lawyers.

     He is married to Ann Mackey, an Indianapolis attorney, and
is the father of two sons, Chris and Allen.  Mackey will take
over for Joseph Hartzler, who returned to his work as an AUSA in
Springfield, Illinois. 

     Also joining the government's team of prosecutors will be
Geoffrey S. M/earns, First Assistant United States Attorney for
the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh.  Mearns, 37,
was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New
York from 1989-1995, where he headed the office's Organized Crime
and Racketeering and General Crimes sections. 

     Reno thanked Hartzler for his work as OKBOMB's lead
prosecutor from May 1995 through June 1997.  "Joe Hartzler and
the entire trial team should be proud of their tireless public
service: they have given their nation so much."

                               ###

97-265