COMEDIAN CHONG SENTENCED ON DRUG CHARGES

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Tommy Chong, who played one half of the dope-smoking duo
in the Cheech and Chong movies, was sentenced to nine months in federal
prison and fined $20,000 Thursday for selling bongs and other drug
paraphernalia over the Internet.

The 65-year-old was allowed to remain free until federal prison officials
tell him in a few weeks where he must report to prison.

Chong also forfeited about $100,000 for his arrest on federal drug
paraphernalia charges. He'll spend a year on probation after he's released
from prison.

His Nice Dreams Enterprises, which made a line of marijuana bongs and
pipes, was to be sentenced later Thursday. Under federal law, the business
itself can be placed on probation or face other sanctions.

Chong pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia and
pleaded guilty on behalf of Nice Dreams Enterprises, which did business
under the name Chong Glass.

The actor's plea came after federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents
bought his paraphernalia and had the items shipped to an undercover
business in Beaver Falls, northwest of Pittsburgh. Agents also confiscated
his company's paraphernalia during raids of "head shops" in several states
and confiscated "thousands of marijuana bongs and pipes" in a raid of his
Gardena, Calif., business.

His plea followed a series of DEA raids in February in which at least 55
people were charged with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. Federal
officials said the investigation targeted the nation's biggest Internet
distributors of paraphernalia.

Prosecutors said Chong was the first person to plead guilty in the raids.

Chong and Cheech Marin co-starred in several films in the late 1970s and
early '80s, including "Nice Dreams" and "Up In Smoke." Chong recently had a
recurring role on Fox's "That '70s Show."