CADET SENTENCED FOR DRUG USE

Air Academy Senior Given 3-year Term On Narcotics Charges

AIR FORCE ACADEMY -- An Air Force Academy senior cadet was sentenced to 3
years in military prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to using and
distributing illegal drugs.

Stephen D. Pouncey, a 22-year-old from Austin, Texas, entered the plea to
four counts of using various drugs, including, ecstasy, LSD, cocaine and
methamphetamine, and one count each of distributing LSD and ecstasy to
other cadets. The sentence will be served at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Pouncey sat motionless, his hands on his knees, when the sentence was
issued by the judge, Lt. Col. Israel Willner. Pouncey's mother, who had
come from Austin for the trial, sat quietly.

Pouncey's court-martial exposed a troubling new problem at the Air Force
Academy -- the use of dangerous drugs by members of the cadet wing.

His plea came early in the one-day trial. But as prosecutors and defense
attorneys argued over how much of a potential 50-year prison sentence
Pouncey should receive, testimony touched on Pouncey's introduction to
drugs by others in the cadet wing. It revealed that 13 other cadets under
investigation in a schoolwide drug probe included Pouncey's roommate and at
least three others in his squadron -- one of 40 squadrons at the school of
4,000 cadets.

The testimony also turned emotional as Pouncey's mother recalled her son's
gradual disillusionment with the academy and his descent into depression
beginning near the end of his sophomore year, before his first admitted use
of drugs.

"I don't know what happened here (at the academy)," said his mother, Brenda
Perkins-Beeler who came from Austin to testify, "but I know something
happened after he came."

The high school honor student who had traveled to Russia and Mexico on
church missions and who had looked forward to entering the academy was
disappearing, his mother said.

"He started to be disillusioned. He said the academy was not what he
thought it would be," his mother said. By the summer break between junior
and senior years, after Pouncey's admitted exposure to Ecstasy, he
abandoned his ambition to fly.

"He was depressed and angry and had an edge, a kind of darkness to him,"
she said. Summer leave "was the worst time; he had a cloud over him. He
wouldn't associate with the family. I tried to ask him what was wrong and
he'd get angry about it."

Prosecutors and Pouncey's immediate supervisor, Maj. T.J. McGrath, said his
attitude and conduct had deteriorated. He had amassed demerits and
disciplinary hearings, and in fact, was being discharged from the academy
when the drug investigation focused on him last October.

Pouncey offered a poignant insight as he made a short statement to the
judge, apologizing to his fellow cadets, the school's commandant, the
academy and his mother for his conduct.

"There is a lesson here for cadets. If you're involved in drugs, stop. If
you're thinking about using drugs, don't. They've completely ruined my
life," he said.

There have been few drug-related disciplinary problems and no criminal
cases in recent years at the academy. Two cadets were discharged in 1999
when they were caught smoking marijuana.

Academy officials revealed that when Pouncey was charged, 13 other cadets
also were under investigation for using drugs, including LSD and Ecstasy,
the popular new party drug often connected to all night parties called raves.

Another 12 cadets have been cleared of drug use charges, and nine cadets
were disciplined for knowing of drug use by others but failing to report it.

Testimony in Pouncey's sentencing revealed that other cadets using Ecstasy
introduced him to it in the spring of 2000, his junior year.

He continued to use it, often obtaining it in clubs in Denver and Colorado
Springs.

Testimony indicated that Pouncey never dealt drugs, but the "distribution"
charge involved 10 to 15 occasions when he obtained Ecstasy for three other
cadets who had asked him, and two occasions on which he obtained LSD for a
sophomore cadet who had asked. No drugs were ever in his room although an
Ecstasy testing kit was found in his car.

Last Oct. 16, Pouncey tested positive in a urinalysis for cocaine and
methamphetamine. When questioned by Air Force Office of Special
Investigations agents, he admitted having used Ecstasy and other drugs
since the prior May and provided investigators the names of other cadets
who used drugs.

The charges came at the worst of times, his mother said. Her second husband
had been accused of indecency with a child on Sept. 13, and their
8-year-old daughter, Pouncey's step-sister, had been taken out of the home.

When asked by his defense attorneys how he was coping, Pouncey's mother
said: "Not very well. He's been moody, angry. He's got his whole family
coming apart and he's got these charges and he's not getting any help."

She pleaded to the court for leniency.

"He's a good person. He's got good values. He has a contribution to make to
this world. He's been the best big brother for his little sister," she said
in a breaking voice.

Prosecutor Capt. Michael Friemann asked the judge to sentence Pouncey to
five years in prison, to "send a message" to the cadets and the regular Air
Force.

"It needs to be strong enough so they'll think twice about using and
distributing drugs," Friemann said.