U.S. Pardon Urged for Photographer Convicted in Spain

Five members of Congress asked President Reagan on Wednesday to pardon Conan Owen, the photographer freed from a Spanish prison after serving time for what U.S. officials say was a wrongful drug trafficking conviction.

Owen, 24, arrived at his parents’ Annandale, Va., home Tuesday night to a boisterous greeting from neighbors and friends, who had festooned the house with balloons and signs. He must remain there under house arrest until March, when he will be eligible for U.S. parole.

“The tragedy of Conan Owen’s story is finally coming to an end,” said Rep. Stan Parris (R-Va.), who is Owen’s congressman. “This story, however, will not be concluded until Conan’s name is finally cleared--and that requires a presidential pardon.”

Others signing the letter requesting the pardon were Reps. Romano L. Mazzoli (D-Ky.), Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), Bill Nichols (D-Ala.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.), a senator-elect.

Owen was convicted in Barcelona last April of carrying four pounds of cocaine from Chile into Spain under the false bottom of a suitcase. He was on a free-lance photo assignment for a travel brochure.

The man who arranged the assignment, Jorge Barahona of Washington, later admitted in a U.S. court that he had planted the drugs in the suitcase without Owen’s knowledge. Then-Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III presented Barahona’s confession to Spanish authorities, as well as other evidence he said established Owen’s innocence, but to no avail.

After spending 19 months in a Spanish jail, Owen was transferred to the Loretto, Pa., prison on Nov. 8 under terms of a treaty that provides for the transfer of prisoners between the United States and Spain when a citizen of one country is convicted of a crime in another. A plan approved by the U.S. Parole Commission will allow Owen to serve the remaining months of his sentence at home.