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)
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Source: Voice of America
.