Pubdate: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: BENJAMIN WEISER WOMAN WHO LED DRUG RING IS SENTENCEDHED NEW YORK -- A Colombian woman convicted of running an international drug ring was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday by a federal judge who cited the huge quantity of drugs her organization had sold in the United States. The woman, Mery Valencia, 46, was convicted on July 30 after a two-month trial on charges of leading a conspiracy that sold 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, with a wholesale value of more than $180 million, in the United States from the late 1980s until 1997, when she was arrested in Brazil. She was later extradited to the United States. Testimony showed that the cocaine was held in "stash houses" in Florida, Texas and California, and eventually sold in New York and elsewhere. On Thursday, Ms. Valencia wept and apologized to Judge Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan for having "taken the wrong path" in life. "I am very remorseful for what I did," she said through a translator, "and I'm paying a very high price." Ms. Valencia's organization was seen as unusual, if not unique, because its senior leadership was almost entirely female. Of the more than 75 people charged in connection with the investigation into her drug ring, more than a dozen were women, the indictment showed. Ms. Valencia also relied on women in her own family, the indictment charged, including her sister, Luz Dary Valencia Castrillon, who is suspected of being a manager in the cocaine conspiracy responsible for arranging to deposit drug proceeds in U.S. banks. Ana Maria Valencia, Mery Valencia's sister-in-law, was described in the charges as the manager of deliveries and pickups of money in the United States. Both women have been charged, but neither has been arrested, officials said. In court, Ms. Valencia's lawyer, Merrill Rubin, asked Judge Wood not to impose a life term, given Ms. Valencia's age, and his view that a life term would not deter other narcotics traffickers. "If one person is removed from the scene," Rubin said, "there are five people clamoring to get in." But a federal prosecutor, James J. Benjamin Jr., disagreed. He cited phone conversations of Ms. Valencia's associates that had been recorded on government wiretaps. The conversations showed that there was much discussion about how to avoid having her extradited, and the consequences for the ring of a long imprisonment for Ms. Valencia, he said. Benjamin also noted the "huge geographical temporal scope" of her operation and the "tremendous consequences" for lower-ranking ring members who were arrested, and for those who had used the cocaine. Judge Wood said that although not everyone might be deterred, she agreed with the government "that there is a reasonable likelihood of deterring some conduct." She also ordered Ms. Valencia to pay a $250,000 fine. Forty-five other defendants in the case in New York have pleaded guilty to charges that include narcotics offenses and money laundering, and more than 30 others are at large, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White in Manhattan. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck