FORMER STRIP-CLUB OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES

Former strip-club owner Lance Migliaccio pleaded guilty Wednesday to
five felony counts of possessing Ecstasy with the intent of
distributing the drug and faces five years in prison as part of the
plea agreement.

Migliaccio, who once owned La Boheme in Denver, is scheduled to be
sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn on March 5.

Migliaccio's indictment included charges that he possessed powerful
military-grade explosives along with the drug allegations, but
prosecutors intend to dismiss the weapons charges as part of the plea
agreement.

Prosecutor Colleen Covell declined to say why the explosives charges
won't be pursued.

Blackburn could decide to forgo the sentence recommended by
prosecutors and order Migliaccio to spend 20 years in prison on each
count if he decides the agreement is not appropriate.

Migliaccio also is expected to forfeit his property because
prosecutors allege drug profits were used to purchase his home.

The case against Migliaccio exposed a disagreement within the Drug
Enforcement Administration over the way the investigation was handled.

A DEA agent testified during one of Migliaccio's hearings that the
investigation into his crimes was cut short in 2001 because the head
of the DEA was in Denver from Washington, D.C., and that higher-ups
wanted to hold a news conference about some of the indictments that
already had been made.

The agents were not ready to expose their case to the public because
they thought the investigation was still two levels below Migliaccio
in the drug-distribution ring, the agent testified.

Jeff Sweetin, DEA special agent in charge of the Denver office, has
said that the agent was "under informed" about the decision to halt
the investigation in 2001.

The DEA began watching Migliaccio because several informants said he
was the leader of an Ecstasy ring and was transporting the drugs from
Amsterdam to Denver in hollowed-out furniture.