New Mexican (Newspaper) - September 11, 2000, Santa Fe, New Mexico ECONOMIA El mejor chile la nation se produce en Nuevo Mexico El Nuevo Mexicano B6 NFL WEEK 2 BRONCOS ROUT FALCONS Atlanta coach Dan Reeves return to Denver spoiled by 4214 loss Sports Cl The Wests Oldest Newspaper Serving New Mexico for 151 years THE SANTA FE MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11 2000 fTl T Y CENTS i Staff and wire reports Wen Ho Lee ALBUQUERQUE Wen Ho Lee the fired Los Alamos scientist jailed nine months on charges of breaching national security will plead guilty to just one of the 59 counts against him in an agreement that him free government sources said Sunday In what appeared to be a stunning surren der by federal prosecutors Lee is to be released today after a plea hearing before Dis Judge James Parker in Albuquerque a hear ing that will finally end a 3yearold case marked by allegations of racial profil ing The deal which calls for Lee to plead guilty to unlawful retention of informa tion and which was ated in secret sessions encouraged by Parker over the past several weeks thus brings to an astonishing close a highly troubling case that has roiled the and scientific communities as well as and The FBI initially investigated the Taiwan born Lee as a potential Chinese spy and reports that Lee had given Beijing Americas most sophisticated nuclear war head sparked more than a dozen al hearings last year The FBI later admitted that it found no evidence linking Lee to espi began asan f aChinese espionage case accusations that Lee had downloaded the crown jewels of Ameri can science might be poised to hand them over to a foreign power and might even be spirited away by spies in helicopters The government ultimately backed down from nearly all those charges A source close to the Lee case said Sunday that Lee will admit that in 1994 he down loaded restricted data from a Division T secure computer onto tapes which he retained outside of the labs Division X where he worked The source said Lee will accept a jail term for the time he has already served He also will agree to a lengthy debriefing with government agents and to remain avail for further debriefings over the next six months This means he will have no probation or parole and will walk out of court a free the source said Dr Lee and his family are thrilled at the prospect that he may be released uncondition ally tomorrow Dr Lee very much wants to go home to his defense attorney Mark Holscher said emphasizing that he cannot elaborate on terms of the settlement because they have not yet been filed in court A successful prosecution appeared increas ingly unlikely after a series of recent set backs in court A key setback for prosecutors came last month when FBI agent Robert Messemer t Please see LEE Page A4 Charlotto New Mexican A simple sign stands In front of Wen Ho Lees garage in White Rock in anticipation of his possible return today Lees neighbors prepare for joyful The Associated Press LOS ALAMOS Theyre planning a party in Wen Ho Lees neighborhood complete with dozens of flags and trays of food just like Labor Day or the Fourth of July Neighbors and fellow scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory are getting together a big Welcome Home today for Lee the fired nuclear researcher who until Sunday faced a potential life prison term if convicted of 59 counts of mishandling restricted data Nextdoor neighbor Don Marshall who would have if he had been released on bail and who had put up his house to help cover Just one small individual and the government is so and powerful Can he really get a fair hearing The system has worked just the way its supposed to work DON MARSHALL Wen Ho lees neighbor the million bail said neighbors want to have people line the street waving flags to greet him and to show their belief in the justice system Just one small individual and the government is so big and powerful Can he really get a fair hearing The system has worked just the way its supposed to Marshall said Marshalls wife Jean added I cant imagine how nice the sunshine is going to feel to him and Im glad hes going to come home in time to plant his fall Marshall a colleague and friend for 20 years has described Lee as a gentle man with a sense of humor a passion for gardening and fishing and a love of classical music and novels He said he had not talked to Lee in months Lee has been held in soli tary confinement and that he missed his friend Friends and neighbors relayed a request from Lees wife Sylvia say ing she did not want to comment until her husband was actually free Carl Newton has known the Lees since the early 1980s when their chil dren played soccer together He was a soccer Newton said In the course of his nine months in jail Lee missed Christmas Memorial Day the Fourth of July and Labor Day He had hoped to be home on bail for Please see HOME Page A3 The sacred side of Fiesta Candlelight procession concludes Fiesta de Santa Fe By DANIEL J The New Mexican With work and everything else in her life Donna Middleton was so occupied this summer that the Fiesta de Santa Fe just didnt fit into her busy schedule But on Sunday as she has done for the past four consecutive years Middleton took 50 steps give or take a few to claim her spot along the steep path to the Cross of the Martyrs As the mighty voice of a mari achi singer and his band grew closer and louder Middleton 41 watched in anticipation as hun dreds walked the downtown area in a candlelight procession fol lowing a Mass of Thanksgiving at St Francis Cathedral Its the most peaceful thing about she said her pre scription eyeglasses reflecting New Mexican Hundreds walked In the candlelight procession to the Cross of the Mar tyrs marking the end of Restate Santa Fe on Sunday night the tiny flickers of candlelight throughout Paseo de Peralta This is my favorite part Its the end to a long And the end to this years Fies ta de Santa Fe No more frequent cries of iQue viva la fiesta Shiny con Please see FIESTA Page A4 INSIDE TODAY The Wests Oldest Newspaper Sunny and windy High 86 low 49 Weather Page A2 Ann Landers Health Baseball Bl Business C3 Horoscope B5 B5 Obituaries Classifieds DX Opinion Comics A5 C6 Scoreboard C3 Cl Crossword B5 Sports Football M Spanish pg B6 On World Wide Web Four sections 24 pages 151st year Issue No 255 Publication No The New Mexican Is printed on recycled paper Pojoaque to vote on school bond Tuesday By EVA JO COINS The New Mexican Pojoaque Valley voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve a million bond to pay for renovations of crum bling school buildings some of which are 62 years old Students are suffering in hot overcrowded classrooms And roofs water lines electri cal systems bleachers and facilities are all in need of repair The bond would cost proper ty owners per of assessed value compared to the current rate of a per increase If this bond passes we can stare in the eyes of a child and tell them We support said member Ruben Roybal If we fail we For more information Additional information about the coming bond election can be obtained at Tne bond election will take place Tuesday at the Pojoaque High School multipurpose room The polls are open from 7 to 7 will have to look in their eyes and say We dont believe in Many taxpayers have charged that the proposed bond overreaches what is really needed But Elaine Benavidez urged voters to set aside con cerns about how the district is Please see BOND Page A3
