AMERICAN WOMAN AWAITS APPEAL OF MEXICAN DRUG SENTENCE

ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) -- It was a craving for freedom that compelled Dawn
Wilson to settle in Mexico, to the limited extent any sea-loving sailor
ever settles down.

"I've always liked it. I felt the freedom of it, the lack of structure as
far as laws go," said the 48-year-old woman with untamed light brown hair.

Now, as she speaks from behind three layers of metal screening at a state
prison in Ensenada, Wilson herself is surprised she still can laugh at the
irony of it all.

On April 12, 2003, the San Diego County native was picked up by Ensenada
police as she walked toward her pickup in this port town, intending to
drive down the Baja peninsula to the boat she calls her home.

She carried three months' worth of dilantin, an anti-seizure medication.
Given the large amount of pills she had, and the fact she carried no
prescription for the barbituate-related drug, a Mexican court convicted her
of possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute it. She
was sentenced to five years in prison.

"I look back on it and I see a lot of coincidences that went wrong for me,"
Wilson said recently in her first jailhouse interview with an American
reporter. "Definitely, if I could go back ... I would do everything
different, every single thing different. But I can't do that."

Fernando Benitez, the Tijuana attorney leading Wilson's defense, maintains
that Wilson's case is a cautionary tale for Americans who buy
pharmaceuticals in Mexico to take advantage of substantially cheaper prices.

Though Mexican pharmacists are supposed to require proof of prescriptions
for legally controlled substances, the law is not always followed. Wilson
maintains she bought her dilantin without having to show a prescription.

Liza Davis, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, said Americans
who are caught with pharmaceuticals often are surprised they're violating
Mexican law. Currently, about 200 Americans are serving prison terms in
Baja California state for a variety of drug charges, Davis said.

"I think Americans need to realize ... that this is a sovereign country
with its own laws," Davis said. "That's a lesson many, many Americans forget."

Scores of pharmacies, English-language signs in their windows hawking
popular pain killers and diet pills, line the main drags in tourist towns
such as Ensenada, Rosarito and Tijuana. Certainly, most purchases go
smoothly, but problems are not unusual - either when Americans try to bring
drugs back across the border, or when they are stopped by Mexican authorities.

A common scam reported to the U.S. Consulate involves police officers
approaching foreigners outside pharmacies and demanding bribes, Davis said.

Last fall, an Iowa woman claimed she and her husband were detained by
Tijuana police after buying drugs at a pharmacy and that she was raped when
her husband left to withdraw bribe money. Charges against the officers are
pending.

Wilson contends that after she was arrested, the bank and credit cards in
the purse she handed over to police were used to withdraw about $4,000 from
automatic teller machines in Tijuana and Ensenada.

Wilson and Benitez say it was an unfortunate series of events that landed
her in jail: a highway closure that forced her to pass through Ensenada; a
minor accident with her pickup that caused her to spend the night there;
her failure to carry her prescription with her; and then a series of
defense errors made by her first attorney, Rogelio Iniguez.

Iniguez, a private lawyer hired by Wilson, failed to provide proof of her
medical condition or need to take dilantin at her trial even though
Wilson's fiance, Terry Kennedy, contends he provided him with the records.

Iniguez did not return several messages left at his Ensenada office seeking
comment.

Records from a San Diego hospital provided to The Associated Press show
Wilson was diagnosed as having a "miniseizure" disorder in 2002 and was
prescribed dilantin. She said the seizures are the lingering effect of a
childhood horse-riding injury.

Under Mexican law, such evidence can no longer be considered in Wilson's
defense because it was not presented during her initial trial, according to
Benitez.

Wilson has lost two appeals of her conviction and now is pinning hope on
one final challenge before a constitutional-review panel in Mexicali. Her
lawyers say Wilson's rights were violated because prosecutors failed to
conduct the chemical testing required by law to prove the pills were a
controlled substance.

The judicial panel is expected to issue its ruling in the next few weeks.
Of the three appeals made so far, Benitez said, "this is by far the best one."

Wilson says she is optimistic, but not overly so.

"I always have hope, but I won't let myself dwell on it because I've had
too many disappointments already," she said.

Benitez has prepared two fallback plans in case the constitutional
challenge fails: a deal that could reduce the seriousness of Wilson's crime
and cut her sentence; or transferring her to a California prison where she
might qualify for early release.

As she awaits a ruling, Wilson says she is adjusting as best she can to
life in prison. Initially she lacked even basic necessities, but over the
year has bought blankets, a mattress and other goods from prisoners.

"I'm pretty comfortable. I even have a pillow, which is a big luxury," she
said.

She has gone without her medication since her arrest, and said she has
suffered several mild seizures. Last month, she broke her right hand while
playing softball and may now require surgery to have it correctly set.

She spends her days on chores, writing about her life behind bars, teaching
English to other inmates and reading spiritual and self-help books. She
trusts that there is a purpose to her imprisonment.

"I have a real belief that there is a reason that I'm here, that I'm still
here, and that it will be revealed to me in the future," she said.

Asked about her plans for life after prison, Wilson begins to talk of
returning to the ocean, but her voice starts to choke with emotion and she
switches tracks.

"Talking about the future is kind of bittersweet," she said.

Wilson has lived in Mexico for nearly 30 years and she may decide to remain
here, she said.

In her opinion, Mexico's legal system "has a lot to be desired." But, she
said, Americans who choose to live here should understand that things work
differently.

"That's the beauty of Mexico, too, because they don't have the strict laws
that they have in the States," she said. "But they worked against me in
this situation."

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On The Net

www.dawnwilson.com

www.traveltobaja.net