LSD PLEA ENDS CADET'S AFA CAREER

Feb. 8, 2001 - AIR FORCE ACADEMY - An Air Force Academy cadet lost his
freedom and his dream of becoming a fighter pilot after he pleaded guilty
Wednesday to using LSD and to lying about using the drug when asked about
it by authorities.

Cadet Barton A. Duvall, 20, a sophomore at the academy and a 1999 graduate
of Durango High School, will be taken today to Miramar Naval Air Station
near San Diego, where he'll serve a five-month sentence. He also was kicked
out of the Air Force and ordered to forfeit all pay and allowances.

Duvall admitted during a court-martial Wednesday that he took LSD on Dec. 9
while he was at a house off academy grounds. He also admitted he lied on
Jan. 8 when he said he got the drug unknowingly after drinking water
offered by a woman he danced with at a Denver nightclub.

"She said that there was acid in the water bottle; I had no idea there was
any type of substance in the water; I had absolutely no idea there was
anything but water in the bottle," Duvall told an investigator.

Later, he confessed that the statement was false. Last week, Cadet Stephen
D. Pouncey, 22, was sentenced to 42 months at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., for
using LSD, cocaine and Ecstasy and distributing drugs to fellow cadets.
Duvall faced up to 10 years' confinement.

He was one of 35 cadets under investigation since October. Eleven cadets
are still under investigation, one has left the academy, nine were punished
and 12 were exonerated.

Duvall broke down while apologizing to his family, the academy and his
commanding officer.

"Today, I stand here before you as the sorriest and most remorseful person
in the world. It is impossible to even partially convey the sorrow and
regret that I have felt over the last few weeks."

The young man, who was a top achiever at Durango High School, dreamed of
graduating from the academy since the age of 6.

"I am losing my lifetime dream. . . . I will wake up every morning and
wonder what I would be doing if I was still in the Air Force. This itself
is a lifetime punishment. The mistake I made, I can honestly say, will
haunt me for the rest of my life."

Because he now has a federal felony conviction, Duvall could face trouble
in securing jobs or acceptance in some schools, though he already has been
accepted at a Florida college, said Capt. Erin Glenn, his defense attorney.

The academy has stepped up its random drug testing program.

"We've increased the frequency. We're doing it on weekends, which we
weren't doing, and after holidays," said Neal Talbot, academy spokesman.

No current numbers were available, but last year the academy conducted
2,700 random drug tests, compared with 7,406 at West Point and more than
14,000 at Annapolis.

Glenn, the defense attorney, said she thought the penalty was too harsh and
that widespread publicity may have influenced the case.

Prosecutor Michael Freimann recommended 15 months' confinement, dismissal
and forfeiture of pay.

"The one thing worse than a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet using drugs is a
U.S. Air Force Academy cadet using drugs and lying about it," Freimann said.