FIRST OFF . . .

Two former art dealers who operated in Santa Barbara pleaded not guilty Monday in Los Angeles to charges that they had valuable pre-Columbian artifacts smuggled into the United States from Peru. David and Jacquelyn Swetnam, who now live in Santa Cruz, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of conspiracy, making false statements to the U. S. Customs Service and receipt of smuggled goods. Trial was scheduled for Jan. 31 before U.S. District Judge Richard Gadbois Jr. The couple is charged with failing to properly document items they imported for sale at their Santa Barbara art gallery, Ethnos Galleries. Peruvian officials have said they believe the items were stolen from an archeologically significant site in northern Peru, but the Swetnams’ attorney Patrick Hallinan alleges the Customs Service was acting on erroneous assumptions about the nature of the Swetnams’ imports.