ARMY COLONEL LINKED TO DRUG SMUGGLING

NEW YORK -- A U.S. Army colonel was implicated for the first time Monday in
a scandal in which his wife admitted smuggling heroin while he was
commanding the military's anti-drug operation in Colombia.

In a letter to a Brooklyn federal judge, prosecutors revealed that Col.
James Hiett is now facing criminal charges that he failed to turn in his
wife, Laurie, for laundering drug money.

Hiett has agreed to plead guilty to ignoring a felony, the letter added. The
charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Laurie Hiett, 36, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges in January,
saying she shipped packages containing $700,000 worth of drugs to New York
City. She also admitted traveling to New York to collect the illicit
proceeds to take back to Colombia -- an act falling under the legal
definition of money laundering.

At the time, Laurie Hiett told reporters she purposely kept her husband in
the dark.

"At one point, he may have asked me why I was going to New York," she said.
"I just told him, 'Don't ask me.' "

Prosecutors refused to detail the case against the colonel. His attorney,
Abraham Clott, did not return a phone call.

Army spokesman Harvey Perritt said that Hiett, 48, a 24-year veteran,
remains on active duty at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Va., where he was
transferred after allegations arose against his wife. He said military
officials would not comment on the case.

An investigation by the Army Criminal Investigation Division in Panama had
cleared Hiett, saying he had "no prior knowledge" of his wife's crimes.
Brooklyn prosecutors, meanwhile, had insisted their investigation was not
over.

The investigation also was propelled by U.S. Customs officers, said Raymond
Kelly, commissioner of the Customs Service, in a statement.

"Customs agents have suspected for some time that U.S. Army Col. James Hiett
had knowledge of his wife's activities and may have even had some
complicity," Kelly said.

Laurie Hiett -- an admitted cocaine addict -- surrendered to authorities in
August after they intercepted two 1.2-kilo packages of heroin that she
allegedly mailed to Queens and Manhattan from a post office at the U.S.
Embassy in Bogota.

The parcels had her return address. But she claimed she sent them for Jorge
Ayala, a civilian driver for U.S. military commanders in Colombia, and that
they contained books, candy, coffee, and Colombian artifacts. She pleaded
not guilty and was freed on bond.

One of her co-defendants, Hernan Arcila, 54, pleaded guilty on Jan. 5 to
drug conspiracy, admitting that he accepted shipments from Colombia at his
Queens address. Ayala, who also was named in a 13-count indictment, remains
a fugitive.

As part of her plea, Laurie Hiett told a federal magistrate she shipped six
packages from Bogota to New York City, believing they contained cocaine.
Tests on the two seized shipments revealed they were heroin.

The defendant also described flying to New York City two times to pick up
cash. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Dunst also said Laurie Hiett once took
another trip to Miami carrying a half kilo of cocaine.

Still free on bond, Laurie Hiett faces up to nine years in prison at
sentencing April 28. Her husband is to enter his plea on April 17.