2 IN KKK MOTORCYCLE CLUB ADMIT TO DRUG RING CHARGES

CONCORD, N.H. - Two members of the Ku Klux Klan Motorcycle Club pleaded
guilty yesterday to federal charges that involved a drug ring operating in
Arizona, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The club itself had only two chapters, in Arizona and New Hampshire, and
the investigation and arrests put the club out of existence, Assistant US
Attorney Joseph LaPlante said at a news conference. He said it had been in
existence for about five years with at least 10 members.

He said the club did not appear to be part of the national white
supremacist KKK, though some pro-white propaganda was seized.

''This is a drug case,'' he said. ''There is no evidence they were involved
in any civil rights crimes or hate crimes.''

James Michael Coyne, 43, of Laconia, and Carroll Lane, 38, of Wells, Maine,
pleaded guilty in US District Court in Concord to conspiracy to distribute
crystal methamphetamine and laundering the proceeds of drug trafficking.
Coyne also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and
ammunition, and Lane to possession of a firearm.

Coyne faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison, Lane 10 years to
life. LaPlante declined to say what sentence prosecutors would recommend or
whether there was any sentence agreement tied to the guilty pleas. Both men
were held without bail pending Feb. 21 sentencing hearings.

Lane was arrested in June in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Coyne in September in
the Laconia area.