News Digest
TWo Amish men plead
guilty in cocaine case
1 PHILADELPHIA — Two
Amish men pleaded guilty
Monday to conspiring to sell co
caine to fellow members in a case
that threw a spotlight on how
modern-day problems are en
croaching on the sect’s simple
way of life.
Abner King Stoltzfus, 23, and
Abner Stoltzfus, 24, could get
five to 40 years in prison and up
to $2 million fines. No sentenc
ing date was set. The men are not
related; Stoltzfus is a common
name among the Amish.
Prosecutors said that from
1992 to 1997, the two men
bought cocaine from a Philadel
phia-area motorcycle gang called
the Pagans, then sold the drugs to
Amish youth. Eight members of
the Pagans also have been
charged.
The accusations shook Lan
caster County’s 22,000 conserva
tive Old Order Amish, who iso
late themselves from the outside
world and shun modern conve
niences. They ride horse-drawn
buggies and dress in plain, black
clothes.
Some Amish acknowledged
that the sect has had to grapple
with alcohol and marijuana prob
lems for a decade. But word of
Amish young people using hard
drugs prompted the community’s
bishops to send a letter to all the
churches, warning about cocaine.
At the time of their indictment,
the Stoltzfusses were participat
ing in a “timeout,” a period dur
ing which young Amish men and
women are allowed to explore
the outside world and decide
whether to join the church. Both
men intended to join, their
lawyers said.
The courtroom Monday was
packed with people in Old Order
Amish dress.
“It’s a very gratifying thing for
a judge to see that an individual's
family and peers are supporting
him in a time of genuine need,”
U.S. District Judge Clarence C.
Newcomer said.
Boston Chicken files
for Chapter 11
2 DENVER — Five years after
going public in one of the
most frenzied stock offerings
Wall Street has ever seen, Boston
Chicken Inc. filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection Monday
and closed 15 percent of its
stores.
The restaurant chain, which
closed 178 stores, said it sought
court protection because of about
$283 million in debt that comes
due Oct. 17.
Boston Chicken and its home
style Boston Market restaurants
created a Wall Street sensation in
1993. Its initial public offering
was priced at $20 per share and
shot to nearly $50. The stock
split 2-for-l in 1994.
The stock has since plummet
ed, closing at 50 cents Monday
on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Some analysts said the Gold
en-based company had expand
ed too quickly and lost focus.
Between May 1992 and this
year, Boston Chicken grew from
34 stores in the Northeast to
1,143 nationwide. Sales jumped
from about $21 million in De
cember 1991 to nearly $1.2 bil
lion in 1996.
Along the way, meatloaf and
ham were added to the chicken
and mashed potatoes on the
menu. The company also invest
ed in a bagel chain.
After years of growth, Boston
Chicken posted mixed sales in
1997. This spring, the company’s
co-chairmen stepped down.
Jerry Hirschberg, who tracks
Boston Chicken for Standard &
Poors, said “a lot of people were
taken with the concept” at first.
But he said the company’s subse
quent strategy seemed to be: “Put
up a thousand or so stores, then
figure out how to run them.”
Chapter 11 allows a company
to hold off its creditors while it
tries to put its finances in order.
Convicted assassin
claims conspiracy
3 MEXICO CITY — A factory
worker convicted in the 1994
assassination of Mexico’s top
presidential candidate has made
a new assertion of innocence,
claiming he is the victim of a gov
ernment conspiracy.
In telephone conversations
recorded by his family, Mario
Aburto Martinez said his confes
sion to the killing of Luis Donaldo
Colosio came under intense phys
ical and psychological torture.
“I was used as a scapegoat.
...We believe the government
killed (Colosio) as part of a power
struggle,” Aburto is quoted as say
ing by the Mexico City newspa
per, El Universal.
Colosio, who had been widely
expected to win Mexico’s presi
dency, was shot at a campaign ral
ly in the border city of Tijuana in
March 1994.
Police arrested Aburto at the
scene, and he was convicted of
homicide and sentenced to more
than 40 years in prison.
But few Mexicans believe
Aburto acted alone. Colosio was
shot in the head and abdomen,
from what some believe to have
been two different angles. A spe
cial prosecutor, however, said the
shots were fired by the same gun
man, while Colosio’s body spun
in the air as he fell.
The government appointed a
succession of four special prose
cutors to investigate the case, but
little has come of it.
Attorney General Jorge Madra
zo told Congress last month his
office continues to look for the
masterminds of the homicide.
New Zealander grabs
bungee jump record
4 AUCKLAND, New Zealand —
A New Zealand daredevil who
dove off Auckland’s highest
building Monday claimed a
world record for his 591-foot
bungee jump.
Traffic halted as crowds gath
ered to watch A.J. Hackett's 8-sec
ond jump from the Sky Tower
casino. Hackett’s bungee cord
plunge ended just above the
heads of the shouting and
whistling spectators.
Hackett, a promoter credited
with popularizing bungee jump
ing, said he set a record for a
bungee jump from a building. The
Guinness Book of World Records
does not recognize bungee jumps
because of their danger.
Longer bungee jumps include a
nearly 3,300-foot plunge from a
helicopter, and a 700-foot drop off
a dam in the 1995 James Bond
movie “Goldeneye.”
For the nighttime jump, Hack
ett used a rubber bungee along
with two steel guide cables to pre
vent bouncing or drifting into the
building.
Hackett jumped 377 feet from
the Eiffel Tower in Paris 12 years
ago.
“You get a fair bit of adrenaline
pumping round your body, which
is fairly nice,” he said.
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