EX-SENATOR'S SON GETS 11 YEARS

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The 22-year-old son of former Minnesota Sen. Rod
Grams was sentenced to 11 years in prison for possession of a stolen car
and other charges.

Morgan Grams, who has had repeated run-ins with the law, was sentenced
Wednesday to the maximum allowed under a plea bargain. He had pleaded
guilty in December to possession of a stolen vehicle, receiving stolen
property, evading an officer and other offenses.

The younger Grams was arrested Sept. 26 after officers found a stolen car
at a Las Cruces motel and he tried to flee.

Officers said they found stolen silver bars, silver coins and antique coins
and a 12-gauge shotgun in the car. Some of the items were allegedly stolen
from the parents of a runaway Minnesota girl who was at the motel with
Grams and another young man.

Before he was sentenced, Grams apologized for his actions, said Silvia
Cano-Garcia, a deputy district attorney. His father was not there.

His lawyer said he could be eligible for parole in about five years.

The elder Grams, a Republican who lost a re-election bid last year, has
acknowledged that his son has had drug problems. He did not return a phone
call seeking comment on the sentencing. At the time of the New Mexico
arrest last year, he said, "I finally have accepted the conclusion now that
my son is 22 years old and I am fairly helpless to influence what he does."

Last year, Grams pleaded guilty to charges he borrowed a friend's car,
forged checks in her name and used her credit card, all without her
consent. In July 1999, he was stopped in a borrowed vehicle in which a
deputy found marijuana and beer cans. He eventually pleaded guilty to a
misdemeanor marijuana charge.

Christine Grams, Rod Grams' wife and the younger Grams' stepmother, pleaded
no contest June 15 to a misdemeanor charge for allegedly sending e-mails in
the 2000 campaign that were meant to discredit a Democratic Senate hopeful.
She was fined $300 for concealing the source of the e-mails.