The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana • 4

A4 Saturday, Sapiambw 28, 1041 0 South Bend Tnbuna No final agreement yet in airport-rail meeting McCarthy enters 5 guilty pleas ByMARTI GOODLAD HELINE tign Stall Wnltl SOUTH BEND Former fugitive William Charles McCarthy, charged as one of the leaders of a major marijuana nng. entered a guiltv Elea to five charges Friday afternoon in U.f. istrict Court McCarthy, 37, formerly of Niles and South Bend, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of interstate travel in aid of unlawful activity and two counts of Ming a false income tax return. McCarthy and Thomas Paul Hickey were indicted under drug kingpin statutes as the leaders of a marijuana distribution ring involving more than 23 people in Indiana and Michigan. Officials said the operation ran from 1979 to 1986 and was involved in the distnbution of more than imumo pounds of marijuana valued at $100 million McCarthy and Hickey were involved in Aardvark Construction, which had a pole bam on 12 east of Niles.

The government says the conspirators arranged lor semi-truck loads ol maryuana to be delivered at the bam from Florida lor distribution in the Michiana area. McCarthy admitted Ming federal tax returns for 1982 and 1983 that failed to reflect his income from illegal marijuana transactions. He also admitted to charges that accused him and others of possessing more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana in the spring of 1984 and more than 17,000 pounds In the spring of 1985. McCarthy also pleaded guilty to a charge alleging that on Aug. 13.

1984. he and Hickey gave $900,000 to four men in Southfield, tor 13.000 pounds of marijuana. Assistant U.S. Attorney William Grimmer said authorities in Michigan stopped the men and confiscated the money. The plea agreement calls for McCarthy to cooperate with the government and provide information about illegal drug and tax activities.

McCarthy faces up to 41 years in prison and fines of up to $700,000. Judge Robert Miller Jr. set sentencing for Jan. 17. McCarthy also has agreed to forfeit an unspecified amount of money accumulated from drug sales and held in foreign accounts.

Officials noted he lived without employment during his five years of extensive travel throughout the world as a fugitive. McCarthy originally faced a prison term of life plus 274 years and fines up to $2.4 million on 38 counts. The remaining counts will be dismissed at the time of sentencing. McCarthys guilty plea comes just 10 days after his second request for bona was denied by Miller. McCarthy had been scheduled for trial Oct 21.

A fugitive for nearly five years. McCarthy was arrested Jan. 22 in Oak Bay, a town outside Victoria, British Columbia, where he was living with his wife and 6-year-old daughter under assumed names. The arrest came as a result of the television show "Unsolved Mysteries. Hickey, who was arrested at his home near Seattle three days after the show aired, may have helped police find McCarthy.

However, viewer tips also provided information about both men. Hickey, 35. originally of Mishawaka, is serving a 20-year prison term he received in August after his guilty pleas to five counts. McCarthy was brought back to the United States from Canada in August after agreeing to waive extradition proceedings. agreement to agree." Gerald lianas, general manager of NICTD, said funding for the South Bend station project remains uncertaia The airport board has set aside $830,000 as its share of the project.

NICTD will be responsible for the remaining $2.3 million to $3 million cost of the project, which includes welding of railroad tracks between South Bend and Michigan City. lianas said NICTD is hoping to cover its share of the cost of the South Bend project with additional money it hopes to receive from the state of Indiana. The source of this money is the Hoosier Lottery. "Keep buying those lottery tickets," quipped lianas, Barkley said "a few technical details remain to be worked out on the definitive agreement that would spell out the relationship between NICTD and the airport on the train depot project. Bjame Henderson, an NICTD lawyer, said he expected the final agreement to be ready for signing within 60 to 90 days.

Taylor said Fridays meeting and the signing of the preliminary agreement were held because Bv PAUL DODSON TfiOor But Wnfer SOUTH BEND Did a joint meeting of two governmental agencies Friday accomplish anything toward getting passenger railroad service to Michiana Regional Airport? The answer looks to be a "definite maybe." The St. Joseph County Airport Authority, which governs the airport. held a joint meeting with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which owns and operates the South Shore Railroad's passenger service. Members of the two agencies signed a preliminaiy agreement concerning the construction, operation and maintenance of railroad passenger service to the airport John Schalliol, airport director, noted that extension of railroad Eassenger service to the airport as been a community goal since 1974. Phillip Barkley called Fridays meeting a "big step.

Barkley is president of the St. Joseph County Council and a member of the NICTD board. Deputies at scene of steel haulers strike Membersof the SL Joseph they (NICTD) just wan ted to make, sure everyone is on the same track." Hanas said the first of three stages of track work on the airport extension could begin this fall. The first stage would involve improvements to a freight spur that departs from SouthShores main line. County Airport Authority were more subdued in their appraisal.

Lloyd Taylor called the agreement vague" and said the two boards are not in complete agreement the project. James Hughes said the signed Friday was simply "an on document "Weve had a report of a shooting (at the Indiana Harbor Works). No one was injured, thank goodness. A tire was shot out, he said. We have not been shut down but we definitely have been affected.

Some of our drivers are not interested in driving at night. he said. Lefley said he was not able to supply information on how much of an effect the steel haulers campaign is having, but it has slowed down shipments" from both L'N Tek and Indiana Harbor Works. dustries said Friday his company's operations were being affected by what he termed as "intimidation of drivers by the steel haulers' group. "There definitely has been intimidation of drivers coming onto the property" of the Tek plant near New Carlisle, he said.

Inland is a joint venture owner of I Tek, a sheet steel processing plant. The steel processed at the New Carlisle plant originates at Inland's Indiana Harbor Works plant at East Chicago, Ind. "I understand there were some nails poured onto Larrison Road (at I Tek) which the local police cleaned up. said Lefley. He said nails were also removed from the roadway Thursday morning at the north gate of the Indiana Harbor Works.

SAWYER Berrien County 1 Shenll's deputies spent some time at Arlington Metals here today to prevent any violence connected with a strike by steel haulers. Dispatchers for the department said strikers had tried to get in the way ol trucks leaving the plant Fn-' day A shotgun had also been con-. liscated from one ol the strikers but no arrests were made. Deputies said they were spending time there mainly as "a precau-tionaiy measure Drivers leaving the plant had been threatened as early as Tuesday when the stnke started the strike was called by the newly lormed Great Lakes Area Steel haulers Association to protest rates paid bv area steel mills. Robert Lefiev.

spokesman tor the Chicago-based Inland Steel In Study confirms fear on fish TRAVERSE CITY. Mich. AP -A study of Lake Michigan fish caters backs up what researchers have been saying, that the PCBs people eat stay in their bodies a long time. Ten years ago. researchers from the Michigan Department of Public Health and the University of Michigan tested the blood of 519 state residents who ate at least one meal of Lake Michigan fish every week.

This summer, they went back to 1 11 ol the volunteers and took more tests Health Department researcher Hal Humphrey says the results so far show that PCB levels in their blood have remained constant. "What it shows is that even though the chemicals are no longer produced, even though their level in fish is dropping, they're still with us. Humphrey said. Humphrey said PCB levels in Lake Michigan salmon and trout are just one-fifth of what they were 10 years ago. PCBs polychlorinated biphenyls were commonly used in electrical transformers.

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