AF CADET BOOTED, JAILED FOR DRUG SALES

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A cadet whose drug use gave the Air Force Academy
a "black eye" according to prosecutors was sentenced yesterday to 3&1/2
years in a military prison and dismissed from the academy.

Cadet First Class Stephen Pouncey, 22, who was only months from graduating
from the academy here, showed no emotion when the sentence was announced.

Pouncey's court-martial was set to begin yesterday, but he pleaded guilty
to charges of using cocaine, LSD, ecstasy and methamphetamine and
distributing ecstasy and LSD. He faced a maximum sentence of 55 years in
prison.

"Drugs completely ruined my life," Pouncey said after he pleaded guilty. He
urged fellow cadets to learn from his experience.

Thirteen other cadets remain under investigation and one other had dropped
out of the academy.

Pouncey, who wore his "dress blues" uniform, was described by his mother as
a "wonderful kid."

Pouncey's defense attorney Major Don Eller had urged the court not to
simply make an example of Pouncey,

But prosecutor Capt. Michael Freimann said the Air Force Academy would pay
for Pouncey's misdeeds. "He has given the Air Force Academy a black eye,"
Freimann said.