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In
this Sept. 21, 2010, photo, Guinea's acting President General Sekouba Konate
salutes after addressing presidential candidates and elections officials at the
People's Hall in Conakry, Guinea. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
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Sekouba Konate, ex-Guinea
general who briefly served as the president of Guinea pleaded guilty Tuesday to
smuggling tens of thousands of dollars in cash into the U.S. Sekouba Konate, 51, had
been scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on
charges of bulk cash smuggling and making false statements. Instead, he entered
a guilty plea that could result in a prison sentence of up to five years when
he is sentenced in February.
Associated Press report continues:
Prosecutors
say Konate tried to sneak more than US$64,000 in cash into the U.S. on a 2013
flight from Ethiopia to Dulles International Airport. Konate had told Customs
agents he was carrying less than US$10,000 cash.
Konate,
who has family in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area and owns property in the
state, is general commander of the Security Forces of the African Union, a
military force comprising 54 member nations. In 2010, he served as a
transitional president of Guinea following a military coup.
Konate's
lawyer, David Benowitz, did not immediately return a call seeking comment
Tuesday.
Konate
testified at a pretrial hearing that he did not understand the Customs process
because of language barriers.
An Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agent testified at that hearing that they developed suspicions
about Konate because of his property purchases in North Carolina and because
they had received information about possible corruption involving Konate when he
served as Guinea's president.
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