POT COUNT JAILS SUSPECT IN JOURNALIST'S SLAYING

A man whom Dublin police suspect of shooting to death a top Irish
investigative reporter was jailed for twenty years on marijuana trafficking
charges Friday.

It was the longest sentence ever imposed by an Irish court for such an
offense, according to Irish media.

A police witness told judges that he arrested the man, Patrick Holland, 58,
believing him to be the man who shot and killed crime journalist Veronica
Guerin.

She was killed by a gunman on a motorcycle when she stopped at a traffic
light near the capital in June 1996. The slaying sparked public outrage and
led to a government crackdown on druglords and other crime bosses in the
capital.