CADET PLEADS GUILTY IN COURT-MARTIAL TO USING, DEALING DRUGS

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - An Air Force Academy senior cadet pleaded
guilty in a general court-martial Tuesday to using and dealing drugs.

Stephen Daniel Pouncey of Austin was dismissed from service and sentenced
to 42 months in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said Staff Sgt. Mikal
Canfield of the Air Force Academy.

Pouncey, a Westwood High graduate, was charged in December with using LSD,
Ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine, and distributing LSD and Ecstasy.

The sentence was in line with a pretrial agreement, Canfield said. Pouncey
could have faced up to 55 years in military prison.

Pouncey was also sentenced to forfeiture of pay and allowances.

Academy officials said 14 other cadets were being investigated in three
unrelated cases for illegal drug activity. Nine others have been punished
under the school's disciplinary system for knowing about the illegal
activity and failing to report it.

Twelve others have been investigated, but no charges will be filed, academy
officials said.

So far, Pouncey is the only cadet formally charged. He came under
investigation in October, when he and other cadets in his squadron were
tested for drugs. Pouncey tested positive.

Academy Vice Superintendent Col. Brian Binn said that, in response to the
findings, the academy will begin conducting more random drug tests. The Air
Force Academy has conducted fewer random drug tests than the other two
service academies, West Point and the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Each
academy has roughly 4,000 students.

The Naval Academy stepped up testing after a drug scandal in 1996, which
led to courts-martial of five midshipmen and the expulsion of 15 others.

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., a member of the Armed Services Committee,
has called for a congressional hearing into the Air Force investigation.