WIFE: ANTI-DRUG COLONEL KNEW NOTHING

NEW YORK - The wife of a former Army anti-drug officer in Colombia has
pleaded guilty to drug charges in a scheme to smuggle $700,000 worth of
heroin into the United States from her husband's post.

Laurie Anne Hiett said her husband, Col. James Hiett, the former head of
U.S. anti-drug operations in Bogota, never knew of her plan.

``I never told him what I was doing,'' Mrs. Hiett said Thursday after
pleading guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges. Free on bond, she faces
up to nine years in prison when she is sentenced April 28.

After the hearing, Mrs. Hiett, 36, talked openly about battling a drug
addiction and said she was sorry her case made headlines at a time when the
United States is waging a costly war on drugs.

``There are people dying every day to fight this, and then I did what I
did,'' she said. ``I'm not proud of it. ... I just truly apologize.''

Mrs. Hiett surrendered to federal authorities in August after they
intercepted two 2{-pound packages of heroin she had mailed to New York from
the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.

She had claimed the parcels - with her return address - were 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
innocent and was freed on bond.

In recent months, however, her attorney sought a plea bargain with
prosecutors. A co-defendant, Hernan Arcila, 54, pleaded guilty Jan. 5 to
drug conspiracy, admitting he accepted shipments from Colombia at his New
York home. Ayala, who also was indicted, remains a fugitive.

Mrs. Hiett told Magistrate Marilyn Go she shipped six packages from Bogota
to New York City, believing they contained cocaine. Tests on the two seized
shipments revealed they were heroin.

She admitted flying to New York City twice to collect drug proceeds.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Dunst also said Mrs. Hiett once took a trip to
Miami carrying about a pound of cocaine.

Mrs. Hiett told the judge she's battled cocaine addiction for years, but
has been clean since her arrest. She said her problem clouded her judgment.

An Army investigation cleared Hiett, who requested removal from his post in
Colombia and was transferred to Fort Monroe, Va. New York prosecutors are
still investigating.

Hiett, who still lives with her husband and their two sons, 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.'''