FORMER U.S. CUSTOMS INSPECTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO LYING ABOUT FAKE MEMO

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A former U.S. Customs Service inspector pleaded guilty
Thursday to lying about a fake memo that urged agents to quickly process
trucks owned by a company linked to Mexican drug cartels.

The memo was featured in a 1997 "60 Minutes" story but the newsmagazine
eventually acknowledged that the memo was forged and last year apologized
for the story.

In a negotiated deal with federal prosecutors, Michael Horner, 47, admitted
that he conspired to obstruct a Senate investigation that was looking into
corruption within the Customs Service and lying to FBI agents about the memo.

"Essentially, I manufactured the thing for media exposure," Horner, a
longtime critic of the Customs Service, told U.S. District Judge Judith Keep.

Horner did not elaborate. After the hearing, his defense lawyer, Mark
Adams, would only say that the issue of motive was "complex."

The government believes the plea agreement is fair to both sides, but that
doesn't mean the Customs Service is corruption-free, said Julian Greenspun,
a senior trial lawyer for the Department of Justice's public integrity unit.

"You are going to have bad apples in any organization," Greenspun said.
"It's one thing to have bad apples. It's another to accuse people of bad
things. ... (Horner) tried to frame a man who didn't do anything."

The memo, supposedly written by Custom Service's San Diego district
director Rudy Camacho, called for agents to quickly process trucks owned by
a company linked to Mexican drug cartels.

Horner faxed the memo to a "60 Minutes" producer and it later ended up on
the desk of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who called for an investigation of the
Customs Service.

On April 20, 1997, "60 Minutes" cited the memo in a story about drugs
coming to the United States from Mexico at the San Diego border. The
Customs Service in Washington, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office all found
that the memo was forged.

Camacho denied writing the memo and eventually sued "60 Minutes." As part
of the settlement, CBS apologized last year but correspondent Lesley Stahl
emphasized that CBS stuck by the underlying theme of the report.

Horner has long complained of corruption in the Customs Service, saying
that agents colluded with Mexican drug traffickers and removed the names of
Tijuana drug traffickers and descriptions of drug runners and their cars
from the customs computer database.

Horner resigned from the Customs Service in 1992 after complaining that he
was retaliated against for being a whistleblower. The forged memo surfaced
about five years later.

A spokesman for Camacho did not immediately return a phone call seeking
comment. A spokesman for "60 Minutes" did not immediately return a phone
message left after business hours Thursday.

Horner is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 11 and faces a maximum of five
years in prison and a $500,000 penalty.