TWO AMISH MEN SENTENCED IN PENNSYLVANIA DRUG CASE

PHILADELPHIA - A U.S. District judge sentenced two Amish men
Wednesday to a year in prison for conspiring with a motorcycle gang to
sell drugs at the youth hoedowns of the insular Old Order Amish
religious sect.

About 100 Amish men and women crowded into a Philadelphia courtroom to
hear U.S. District Judge Clarence Newcomer impose a penalty that he
said he hoped would send a message about crime to other Amish young
people. It was the first federal narcotics case to involve
Pennsylvania's Lancaster Amish community.

Abner Stoltzfus, 25, and Abner King Stoltzfus, 24, were sentenced to
spend 12 months each in federal incarceration, although authorities
said the time likely would be served under a federal work-release
program at a low-security facility. The men, who are not related, then
would serve five years of federal probation, including 180 days of
house arrest.

The two men pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in October 1997. Both
are from the town of Gap, just east of Lancaster, which is the center
of Amish life in Pennsylvania.

Authorities charged the men with buying cocaine and methamphetamines
from members of an East Coast motorcycle gang called The Pagans and
selling them to adolescents from Amish groups known as the Crickets,
the Antiques and the Pilgrims. The sales occurred between 1992 and
1997.

The Amish, who arrived in Pennsylvania during colonial times, formally
eschew electricity, cars and other modern conveniences for the simpler
ways of the 18th century.

Because their homes have no electrical connections, authorities may
have to resort to battery-operated equipment for the home-confinement
segment of the sentence, which requires the two men to wear electronic
ankle bracelets.

The two men were scheduled to surrender to federal prison officials on
July 20.

The sentencing came after several Amish people, including a pastor,
spoke to the court on behalf of the defendants.

"Although they certainly are remorseful and seem to have changed their
ways, the judge felt he needed to send a message to other Amish
youth," said assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Sykes.

Sykes called the Amish "one of the most vulnerable communities in the
(judicial) district who were not previously exposed to the drug culture."

Sociologists described the case as a symptom of change in a community
that relaxed its strict code of life a decade ago to allow people to
leave the traditional farm setting for lives in business and trade.

The men worked as roofers on local construction projects when they
first came into contact with the gang members who provided them with
drugs, authorities said.