COLONEL GETS JAIL TERM FOR AIDING WIFE'S DRUG SCHEME

NEW YORK (AP) -- The former commander of the military's anti-drug operation
in Colombia was sentenced Thursday to five months in prison for laundering
cash from his wife's drug deals.

The sentence by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman surprised Col. James
Hiett, and even prosecutors, who did not oppose his bid for probation.

Hiett's attorney had argued he deserved a break because of his spotless
24-year military record and because he is raising two sons alone while his
wife is in jail.

But Korman called Hiett's crime a ``betrayal of trust'' in the federal war
against drugs.

Hiett, 48, pleaded guilty in April to charges he tried to lauder $25,000,
proceeds from drug shipments his wife made from a post office in the U.S.
embassy in Bogota to New York City.

Laurie Hiett pleaded guilty in January to charges she shipped packages
containing $700,000 worth of heroin and cocaine. She is serving a five-year
sentence.