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: The Associated Press `LA SENORA' SENTENCED AS DRUG LORD By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman who built an international drug ring from her Florida home before fleeing to Colombia has been sentenced to life in prison by a judge seeking to deter others. Mery Valencia, 46, wept Thursday at sentencing by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood. Valencia, nicknamed ``La Senora,'' was convicted of various narcotics charges related to her leadership of a drug-trafficking conspiracy. Prosecutors said more than 13 tons of cocaine worth some $180 million was involved. Ms. Valencia also was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine for her July 30 conviction after a two-month trial. Prosecutors alleged that Ms. Valencia, a native of Colombia, started her organization in the mid-1980s, directing drug distributions from her Miami home. At her trial, her defense had argued that many of the witnesses against Ms. Valencia were trying to win leniency from prosecutors for their crimes. She fled the country in 1992, and authorities seized cocaine in homes from California to Miami. For years in Colombia, the government said, Ms. Valencia supplied tons of cocaine to U.S. cities, including New York, Miami and Los Angeles. She was first indicted in 1994 in California on narcotics charges and remained a fugitive until February 1997, when she was captured after she traveled to Brazil for Carnival. Ms. Valencia is the 46th defendant to be convicted in New York in connection with the investigation. The others had already pleaded guilty. Additional members of the organization were convicted in California and Florida. - --- MAP posted-by: allan wilkinson