CADET DRUG DEALER SENTENCED

A cadet military prosecutors called "the ringleader of the current drug
problem at the Air Force Academy" was sentenced Tuesday to 3 1/2 years in a
military prison and dismissed from the service.

In an emotional one-day court-martial, Stephen D. Pouncey, a 22-year-old
senior from Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty to selling Ecstasy and LSD to
cadets and using LSD, Ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine.

Pouncey's mother, Brenda Perkins Beeler, began sobbing while testifying.
Pouncey himself had tears in his eyes as he apologized and said he hoped
his case would deter other cadets from using drugs.

"Drugs have completely ruined my life, not only as an Air Force cadet and
future officer, but also simply as a person who had hopes and dreams," he
said. "Learn from bad decisions that I have made and don't let it happen to
you."

From May to October of last year, Pouncey said, he sold Ecstasy to cadets
10 to 15 times and LSD twice and took Ecstasy repeatedly at nightclubs in
Denver and Colorado Springs. He also admitted to taking LSD at a club in
Denver in October and using cocaine and methamphetamine the next night.

Pouncey also had discipline problems that included alcohol use and missing
formations and was put on probation twice, prosecutors said. In fact, the
senior was quitting the academy in October when investigators tested him
for drugs.

Pouncey is helping in the investigation of 12 other cadets suspected of
drug use, his attorneys said. After a charge of soliciting drugs was
dropped in a plea bargain, Pouncey faced a maximum of 50 years in prison.
Prosecutors recommended fives years. Defense attorneys asked for no jail time.

After two hours of deliberation, the judge, Lt. Col. Israel Willner,
decided on 42 months, dismissal from the Air Force and forfeiture of all
pay. Pouncey will be imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., considered the
toughest in the military justice system.

Pouncey's sentence will be reviewed by the academy superintendent, Lt. Gen.
J.D. Dallager, and if upheld, it will be automatically appealed to a higher
military court.

Pouncey was the first cadet charged in a drug case that has rocked the
academy. Officials originally suspected 35 cadets of using drugs, selling
them or knowing about it.

Twelve have been cleared, nine were punished for not coming forward with
information, one resigned and 12 continue to be investigated.

Calling Pouncey the ringleader of the drug case, prosecutors urged a harsh
sentence to send a message.

"The accused has ruined the reputation of the Air Force Academy," said
Capt. Michael Freimann. "He has smeared the title of cadet."

Defense attorney Maj. Donald Eller said there was nothing to prove Pouncey
was a ringleader, noting cadets asked him for drugs. "Hammering" the cadet
wouldn't accomplish anything, he said.

"To cut his head off, put it on a stick and put it in the courtyard for all
to see, that's easy," Eller said. "Consider the individual. He is not
perfect. There are chinks in the armor, but he can overcome this."

Beeler described her son as a great kid who excelled in school, was active
in church and enjoyed helping others. He went to the academy with a dream
to fly.

Beeler said she noticed a difference in her son toward the end of his
second year when he became "disillusioned." He returned to Austin last
summer depressed, moody, with "an edge to him, a darkness," she said.

"I don't know what happened to him up here," she said. "I know something
happened after he came here. He is a good person and he has a contribution
to make to this world."