NATION : Noriega Cohort Gets 10 Years

TAMPA, Fla. — A Panamanian jeweler charged with Manuel A. Noriega in a marijuana-trafficking scheme was sentenced today to up to 10 years in prison.

Enrique A. (Kiki) Pretelt admitted last month that he conspired with Noriega to take bribes from Tampa-based drug smugglers to help ferry $300-million worth of Colombian marijuana through Panama and hide the profits.

U.S. District Judge William Castagna set a special status on Pretelt’s term that would enable him to be freed on parole at any time. The judge told him to come back after he testifies in Noriega’s drug-racketeering case in a separate indictment in Miami.

A federal prosecutor from Miami told Castagna that Pretelt has been cooperating in the Noriega case in southern Florida and is expected to be a substantial witness during the trial next year.