Pubdate: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Fresno Bee Contact: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/opinion/letters.html Website: http://www.fresnobee.com/ Forum: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/projects/webforums/opinion.html Author: Dara Akiko Williams, Associated Press Writer FORMER U.S. CUSTOMS INSPECTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO LYING ABOUT FAKE MEMO SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A former U.S. Customs Service inspector pleaded guilty Thursday to lying about a fake memo that urged agents to quickly process trucks owned by a company linked to Mexican drug cartels. The memo was featured in a 1997 "60 Minutes" story but the newsmagazine eventually acknowledged that the memo was forged and last year apologized for the story. In a negotiated deal with federal prosecutors, Michael Horner, 47, admitted that he conspired to obstruct a Senate investigation that was looking into corruption within the Customs Service and lying to FBI agents about the memo. "Essentially, I manufactured the thing for media exposure," Horner, a longtime critic of the Customs Service, told U.S. District Judge Judith Keep. Horner did not elaborate. After the hearing, his defense lawyer, Mark Adams, would only say that the issue of motive was "complex." The government believes the plea agreement is fair to both sides, but that doesn't mean the Customs Service is corruption-free, said Julian Greenspun, a senior trial lawyer for the Department of Justice's public integrity unit. "You are going to have bad apples in any organization," Greenspun said. "It's one thing to have bad apples. It's another to accuse people of bad things. ... (Horner) tried to frame a man who didn't do anything." The memo, supposedly written by Custom Service's San Diego district director Rudy Camacho, called for agents to quickly process trucks owned by a company linked to Mexican drug cartels. Horner faxed the memo to a "60 Minutes" producer and it later ended up on the desk of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who called for an investigation of the Customs Service. On April 20, 1997, "60 Minutes" cited the memo in a story about drugs coming to the United States from Mexico at the San Diego border. The Customs Service in Washington, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office all found that the memo was forged. Camacho denied writing the memo and eventually sued "60 Minutes." As part of the settlement, CBS apologized last year but correspondent Lesley Stahl emphasized that CBS stuck by the underlying theme of the report. Horner has long complained of corruption in the Customs Service, saying that agents colluded with Mexican drug traffickers and removed the names of Tijuana drug traffickers and descriptions of drug runners and their cars from the customs computer database. Horner resigned from the Customs Service in 1992 after complaining that he was retaliated against for being a whistleblower. The forged memo surfaced about five years later. A spokesman for Camacho did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. A spokesman for "60 Minutes" did not immediately return a phone message left after business hours Thursday. Horner is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 11 and faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $500,000 penalty. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D