WIFE OF ARMY ANTI-DRUG OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES

NEW YORK - The wife of a former U.S. 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," she said yesterday 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, 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."

Hiett surrendered to federal authorities in August after they
intercepted two 2 1/2-pound packages of heroin she had mailed to New
York from the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.

She claimed that the parcels 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 not guilty
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.

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 Hiett once took a trip to
Miami carrying about a pound of cocaine.

An Army investigation cleared her husband, who asked to be removed
from his Colombia post and was transferred to Fort Monroe, Va.

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.' "