AMISH MEN FACE JAIL FOR PLOTTING TO SELL COCAINE

TWO young Amish men pleaded guilty in a Philadelphia court yesterday to
conspiring to distribute cocaine and amphetamines, bringing to a swift end
to one of the most embarrassing episodes in the history of the devout,
reclusive communities which have occupied Pennsylvania since colonial times.

Abner Stoltzfus and Abner King Stoltzfus, who are in their early twenties
and not related, were charged with eight members of the Pagans, a
motorcycle gang known for drug trafficking and violence.

The involvement of the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania -
who farm without tractors, drive horse-drawn buggies and refuse to use
electricity - with the biker gang has shocked many people. The young Amish
men's offence carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

In court yesterday, they sat in traditional Amish black suits. About 40
members of their families and community filled the visitors' benches, the
elders with their beards and broad-brimmed hats, the women wearing dark
skirts and white caps.

The younger Amish men wore colourful shirts under their waistcoats and
sported "heavy metal" hair cuts. Whatever liberties that could be taken
with the Amish dress code, they took: their black trousers were drainpipes;
their shoes the sort of clunking trainers any teenager would wear.

Like all Anabaptists, the Amish do not officially join the church until
they are baptised as adults. As teenagers, they are allowed a period of
relative freedom know as "rumspringa". During this time, they join a gang
which sings hymns, plays games and provides the opportunity to find a mate.

Abna King was involved in one of the racier gangs, known as the Crickets
who would use cocaine at their weekend parties, as well as drink beer,
drive suped-up cars and listen to rock music. He began dealing cocaine
after he hired two members of the Pagans for his roofing business for which
the other Abna Stolzfus also worked.

This brought the Amish men into contact with men with nicknames such as
"Twisted" and "Fat Head" who supplied them with the cocaine for their
weekend parties. Both Abna King Stoltzfus and Abna Stoltzfus plan to return
to their communities where they will be baptised and live out an Amish life.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan