NEWSFLASH

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ALMA SENTENCE: ANTI-DRUG VIDEO, DONATION, PROBATION

Agana, Guam, Aug. 27, 1998 - Actress Alma Concepcion, who pleaded guilty to possession of Methamphetamine hydrochloride, was allowed to return home to the Philippines on a voluntary departure basis by a federal judge who sentenced her to time already served and a fine in the form of a donation to an anti-drug campaign. She was also ordered to make an anti-drug video.

US District Judge Steven Untingco also sentenced the 22-year-old actress and beauty queen to one year of supervised release, but allowed her to report to federal probation officers on Guam by phone from the Philippines.

Concepcion also must donate $5,800 to the Salvation Army's anti-drug campaign on Guam and record an anti-drug public service announcement for use in the United States and the Philippines. Untingco justified his sentence by saying Concepcion possessed only a ``user quantity'' of the drug and the incident was ``nothing more than a poor decision on her part.''

A tearful Concepcion told the judge: ``This has been a very painful experience for me.''

She vowed to use the experience to teach people about the dangers of drugs. The former Miss Philippines and Miss Hawaiian Tropic wore an orange prison jumpsuit and black high heels during her sentencing.

Defense Attorney Patrick Civille said Concepcion will be detained by US immigration officials to determine if she violated terms of her visa. He said she did not, so it is possible Concepcion will be back in the Philippines by the end of the week.

Philippine Consul to Guam General Antonio Villamor reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila that Concepcion's family had been informed of the order and is keeping the details of her return to Manila private.

The report acknowledged the help of the INS unit of the US Embassy in Manila, which was able to assist in avoiding the deportation of Concepcion. Deportation would have barred Alma from ever visiting the US.

Judge Steven Untingco listed the following details of the sentence: credit for time served since July 29; a one-year probation term; minimum fine required under the guidelines relating to the offense; $5,800 donation to the Salvation Army's Lighthouse Anti-Drug Program; undertaking counselling in the Philippines at the direction of the US Probation Office; recording an anti-drug video for use as a public service information commercial where she will appear personally to deliver an anti-drug message; authorization for her return home, from where she will report periodically by telephone to the US Probation Office; return to the US District Court of Guam for hearing at such times as many be required by the court; paying $100 special assessment fee upon sentencing; and abiding by the standard conditions of probation, which shall include a probation from possession or use of any controlled substance and association with known drug users.

The actress was arrested at the Guam airport last July 28, while on her way home to Manila from crowning a Filipino community's beauty queen in Saipan.