MONEY-LAUNDERING COLONEL OUSTED

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An Army colonel who pleaded guilty earlier this year to
charges of laundering cash from his wife's drug deals while he headed U.S.
anti-drug operations in Colombia has been dismissed from the Army.

Col. James C. Hiett, a 24-year veteran, has been dropped from Army
personnel rolls and as a result will receive no military retirement pay, a
spokesman, Lt. Col. Russell Oaks, said yesterday. Oaks said Hiett cannot
appeal the decision.

A federal judge in July sentenced Hiett to five months in jail, five months
of home confinement and one year's probation. Hiett pleaded guilty in April
to charges that he tried to launder $25,000, proceeds from drug shipments
his wife made from a post office in the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to New York
City.