Ex-Guinea leader avoids US prison term for smuggling cash
None
July 15 () - An African general who served as Guinea's transitional president for a year after a military coup, Sekouba Konate, avoided being sentenced to a US prison on Friday for smuggling thousands of dollars into the United States.
US District Judge Gerald Lee in Alexandria, Virginia, fined Konate $5,000 and ordered him to forfeit $64,770 that had been seized, after the general pleaded guilty in December to charges of bulk cash smuggling and false statements.
Federal prosecutors had sought three years in prison. Steven Duckett, a lawyer for Konate, said by telephone the sentence reflected his client's work in Africa and his remorse.
