FEKETE FACES UP TO 30 YEARS

Richard Fekete, the alcoholic federal agent who faced life in prison on
murder charges after shooting a fellow agent in a drunken stupor, pleaded
guilty Friday to a lesser charge of manslaughter, two weeks before his trial
was to begin.

Fekete, 57, a veteran Drug Enforcement Administration agent, had planned to
use an "insanity by intoxication" defense to explain his actions the night
of Dec. 12, 1997, when he shot agent Shaun Edmond Curl nine times with a 9mm
pistol as Curl drove him home from a Christmas party.

Curl, 39, a married father of two who lived in Coral Springs, was driving
Fekete home as a favor because he had noticed Fekete had become too
intoxicated to drive to his Pembroke Pines home. Curl was driving a
DEA-issued Jeep Cherokee when Fekete shot him on U.S. 27, just north of the
county line in Miramar.

Fekete had a strong opportunity to prove his case -- four of the five
doctors who evaluated him agreed he suffered from "alcohol-induced"
psychosis the night he killed Curl. Fekete now faces a maximum of 30 years
but is likely to receive less than half that time under recommended
guidelines.

Curl's widow, Kathleen, was in court Friday but declined to speak, saying
she would wait until the Oct. 18 sentencing. She agreed to the deal.

Defense attorney Glenn Kritzer said: "I think the deal is fair, it is an
appropriate plea even though my client was insane at the time of the crime.
The state would have had to prove sanity and I don't think they could have
done that."

Still, Kritzer said, insanity cases are difficult to prove and "we believed
the deal was for the best."

A bald, bespectacled Fekete -- no relation to Pembroke Pines Mayor Alex
Fekete -- spoke in a strong, clear voice when Circuit Judge Paul Backman
questioned him about whether he understood the ramifications of waiving his
rights and pleading guilty.

"You wish to enter an open plea of guilty to the count of manslaughter with
a firearm, punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to 30 years in Florida State
Prison. Is that correct?" Backman asked.

"Correct, your honor," Fekete answered.

"Are you presently under the influence of alcohol?" Backman continued.

"No, I am not," Fekete said.

The 33-year DEA veteran had been sent to psychological and alcohol-abuse
counseling three times in his career, once after allegedly holding a gun to
his wife's head in 1995 and threatening to kill her, court records revealed.
He told internal investigators that he had blacked out during that incident.
He also said he did not remember shooting Curl.

The agency had been well informed of Fekete's drinking problems, dating back
to at least 1979. The DEA was criticized for failing to take appropriate
action against Fekete, but a spokesman blamed civil service laws for making
it difficult to fire employees for alcohol abuse off the job.

Kritzer said his client has been sober since his arrest.

"He has completely dried out," Kritzer said. "He's feeling terribly,
terribly bad about this tragedy and for the loss of his friend. He realizes
that his life is ruined."

Prosecutor Brian Cavanagh said the state was prepared to argue voluntary
intoxication, meaning that Fekete was responsible for his actions.

"We acknowledge that he had a defense but we dispute it. Under the
circumstances the plea was the right thing to do. This way there is a
measure of guarantee that the killer will go to prison."

After Backman was assured that Fekete understood his actions, he set
sentencing for Oct. 18. He could consider Fekete's psychological evaluations
as a factor for leniency in sentencing. Before the hearing ended, Backman
noted the irony of the situation.

"Mr. Fekete, you're no stranger to rights being given, as you have given
rights to others many, many times throughout your career," Backman said.
"This is like second nature to you, you're just on a different side of the
equation this time."