2 Former Choate Students Admit Smuggling Cocaine
Two former students at the exclusive Choate prep school pleaded guilty today to federal charges of trying to smuggle in 300 grams of cocaine to sell to their classmates.
Derek Oatis, 19, of Meriden and Catherine Cowan, 19, of Little Rock, Ark., two of the three ringleaders of the smuggling, entered their pleas before Chief U.S. District Judge T. F. Gilroy Daly, who could sentence each to a maximum 15 years in prison and impose $25,000 fines.
Cowan and Oatis will be sentenced Nov. 13 and 14.
Another former student, Randall S. Zuckerman, 19, also entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of aiding and abetting.
The government claims that Oatis and Cowan traveled to Caracas, Venezuela, in April of 1984 to buy cocaine for students at Choate Rosemary Hall school in Wallingford, which lists the late President John F. Kennedy among its graduates.
The two allegedly collected $4,800 from fellow students and were arrested April 23, 1984, at Kennedy International Airport in New York when authorities found 300 grams of cocaine hidden in Oatis’ luggage.
Twelve former Choate students pleaded guilty to charges of aiding and abetting the scheme earlier this month.
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