DATE=1/27/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NARCOTICS PLEA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258501
BYLINE=LARRY FREUND
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The wife of a U-S army officer who once headed
the U-S military anti-drug mission in Colombia has
pleaded guilty in New York to smuggling drugs.
Correspondent Larry Freund reports from New York.
TEXT: Laurie Anne Hiett, wife of Colonel James Hiett,
pleaded guilty in Federal court in Brooklyn to using
diplomatic channels to ship cocaine and heroin from
Bogota, Colombia, to the United States. Sentencing was
set for April 28th. Prosecutors say she faces up to
nine years in prison.
Hiett, 36 years old, pleaded innocent when she was
first charged with drug smuggling last August,
claiming that she believed the packages she was
sending to the United States contained candy and
coffee. Another suspect has also pleaded guilty in
the case, admitting that he received the shipments
from Hiett. Federal prosecutor Lee Dunst says the drug
smuggling investigation is continuing, but he can not
comment on who is the target of the probe.
Prosecutors accused Hiett of sending six packages of
narcotics - each weighing more than one kilogram -from
Colombia to an address in New York City's borough of
Queens.
Hiett said her husband was not aware of her activity
and he was cleared by an army investigation of any
involvement. Colonel Hiett, head of a U-S army program
to assist Colombia in its fight against drug
traffickers, was transferred from Colombia but remains
in the army. (Signed)
NEB/NY/LSF/ENE
27-Jan-2000 15:47 PM EDT (27-Jan-2000 2047 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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