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Antidrug colonel wife runs colombia drugs { July 14 2000 }

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July 14, 2000
Army Colonel Is Sentenced to 5 Months for Failing to Report Wife's Heroin Smuggling
By ALAN FEUER

After being chided by a federal judge for not apologizing for his crimes, a United States Army colonel who once ran the government's antidrug operations in Colombia was sentenced yesterday to five months in prison for never reporting that he knew his wife was smuggling heroin through diplomatic mail from Bogota to New York City.

The colonel, James C. Hiett, stood with his hands clasped tightly before him in Federal District Court in Brooklyn as Judge Edward R. Korman pronounced his sentence in a weary, troubled whisper.

Moments before the sentence was handed down, Judge Korman asked the colonel if he had anything to say on his own behalf.

His lips set and his chin held high, Colonel Hiett said that he did not.

''How is it you have nothing to say?'' Judge Korman then asked, slapping his hand on the desk in what seemed like inadvertent frustration.

''I didn't think I could speak at this point to tell you what I really feel, sir,'' Colonel Hiett answered crisply, his jaw muscles quivering with restrained emotion.

''The only thing that I did -- that I consciously did -- was try to protect my wife after the fact.''

Colonel Hiett admitted in April to paying his household bills with thousands of dollars he knew his wife had earned from shipping heroin from the United States Embassy in Bogota to accomplices in Manhattan and Queens.

His wife, Laurie Anne Hiett, pleaded guilty in January to drug trafficking charges and is serving a five-year prison term.

The case of Colonel Hiett, who oversaw about 200 American troops charged with training Colombian security forces in counternarcotics operations, has been an embarrassment for the Army, which cleared him of all involvement in the smuggling scheme last year after a three-month investigation.

Despite the Army's findings, Judge Korman excoriated the colonel yesterday.

''When someone in a position of trust engages in conduct like this, it undermines confidence in the military,'' Judge Korman said.

''It undermines confidence in the country's drug program. And that's what abuse of trust is about.''

Colonel Hiett, 48, has already filed for his retirement, which is to take effect in November.

Federal prosecutors have said that he could face a reduced pension, even court-martial.

But Army officials did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment on the colonel's case.

In an emotional twist to the hearing yesterday, Judge Korman allowed the mother of an Army captain who died in a military plane crash last year while serving under Colonel Hiett's command to address the court before the sentence was issued.

The mother, Janie Shafer, of Brunswick, Md., has accused Colonel Hiett of causing the death of her daughter, Capt. Jennifer Shafer Odom, by revealing secret information about military surveillance flights to Colombian drug traffickers.

Although Judge Korman allowed Ms. Shafer to speak, he acknowledged that there was no evidence to support her allegations.

Standing at the lectern with a photograph of her dead daughter pressed to her chest, Ms. Shafer begged Judge Korman to investigate the plane crash, which the Army has ruled an accident.

Judge Korman said he had no power to investigate the crash, but he consoled Ms. Shafer with gentle words from the bench.

''I'm looking at the picture of your daughter and I'm holding back tears myself,'' he said.

''I can just imagine your suffering as a parent myself.''

* Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company


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