Pubdate: Thu, 06 Sep 2001
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, The (US)
Copyright: 2001 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
Contact:  http://chronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/84
Author: Bryon Macwilliams

AMERICAN DIRECTOR OF EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN BELARUS IS SENTENCED TO 5 YEARS 
FOR DRUGS

A judge in Belarus has sentenced the American director of a U.S. nonprofit 
educational-exchange program to five years of hard labor after his 
conviction on drug charges.

Charles Perriello reportedly pleaded guilty to using and possessing 
marijuana but denied charges of drug trafficking.

Mr. Perriello was arrested in June when officers of the domestic security 
services, still known as the KGB, entered his apartment in Minsk while 
acting on a tip. Officers said they saw him smoking marijuana and then 
found 46 grams of the drug during a search.

Judge Pyotr Kirkovsky, who found Mr. Perriello guilty Monday on all counts, 
said that he imposed half of the maximum 10-year prison term in light of 
the defendant's remorse, character references, and lack of prior convictions.

The Reuters news agency described Mr. Perriello as nervous and pale in the 
holding cell. At his request, journalists left the courtroom before his 
sentencing, so the nature of his remarks to the judge is unknown.

Since 1999, Mr. Perriello ran the Belarus programs of the American Council 
for	Collaboration in Education and Language Study, which was established by 
the American Council of Teachers of Russian.
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