BY CAROLINE J. KEOUGH

 Two men were convicted of alien smuggling in Fort Lauderdale federal court
 Monday, 10 days after their attorneys argued in vain they could not get a fair trial
 in Broward because of their Cuban heritage.

 Angel Blanco, 53, and Jose Luis Alanso, 49, were convicted of picking up 12
 Cubans on a deserted island in the Bahamas, taking them by boat to the Keys,
 then loading them into a van and heading north before being pulled over.

 Their attorneys argued the Elian Gonzalez case had fanned anti-Cuban sentiment
 in Broward, undermining their right to a fair trial.

 Each could now face two years in prison.

 Defense attorney Joaquin Perez says he plans an appeal based on the fact that
 the case was tried in Fort Lauderdale rather than Miami, where it had originally
 been scheduled.

 It was moved north because the judge assigned to the case was busy, and U.S.
 District Judge William Dimitrouleas, who works out of Fort Lauderdale,
 volunteered to take it.

 ``The judge wouldn't allow us to introduce any evidence or testimony about
 conditions there,'' Perez said. ``If this case had been tried in Miami, there would
 have been many more members of the jury who are familiar with conditions in
 Cuba. They would have been much more empathetic.''

 Prosecutors told jurors that Blanco and Alanso were caught bringing a group of
 Cuban refugees ashore on Islamorada, not far from a Coast Guard station.

 Personnel on a nearby Coast Guard vessel watched as the group was loaded into
 a van and taken up U.S. 1. Highway Patrol officials eventually stopped the van.

 One of the refugees was Alanso's son. Ian Alanso, 24, testified that the group had
 planned to rendezvous with Jose Luis Alanso at Anguilla Cay in the Bahamas,
 then continue in their own homemade boat to Miami. But the boat broke down
 and began taking on water just as they reached the island, so they had to board
 Jose Luis Alanso's boat for the trip to Miami. Blanco contends he was just along
 for the ride and didn't know they would be picking up anyone.

 ``They are facing time for doing something that I don't think is wrong,'' Perez said.

 Perez had asked for a delay in the trial so that the case could be re-assigned to
 another judge in Miami, but Dimitrouleas refused.

 ``This is not the time to try this case, when feelings about Cuban nationals and
 aliens are running so high,'' Perez said.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald