Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jun 2002
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Cox Interactive Media.
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Craig Schneider

MOM STRUGGLES FOR ANSWERS IN SON'S DRUG TRIAL

The mother of a boy accused of smuggling a stomach full of heroin from 
Nigeria to New York wants answers. Lots of answers.

Alissa Walden of Norcross hopes her 12-year-old son's trial, which could 
get under way this week in New York, resolves questions she's had since 
before Prince Nnaedozie Umegbolu was arrested April 11 at LaGuardia airport.

"I believe he's not telling me everything," said Walden, 33. "I want him to 
tell who did this to him."

For example, she said the boy has told her he agreed to swallow 87 packets 
of heroin because he was desperate to come home after living 2 1/2 years in 
Nigeria with his grandparents.

"Why was he so desperate to come home?" she said. "How was he treated?

"A 12-year-old cannot go and find these drugs and then make up his mind to 
get to the United States. Somebody had to do this to him," she said. "I 
hope and pray the judge sees him as a victim when she makes her verdict."

The boy probably will testify at his trial, his defense attorneys said, and 
his mother hopes his testimony provides answers.

In general, Walden feels daunted by the complexities of the legal system. 
"It's overwhelming. I'm getting bits and pieces. I need a better 
understanding," she said.

She wonders if her son is found guilty, whether he could serve his sentence 
in a Georgia facility or be placed in her custody through some probation 
program.

And her questions go beyond the legal system.

For instance, she said she lost contact with the boy from October to April 
when he was under the care of his paternal grandparents, attending a 
boarding school.

"I suddenly couldn't get through on the phone number I had" for the 
grandparents, she said.

Walden figured the phone lines had problems, which is common in Nigeria. "I 
was concerned, but not freaking out," she said.

She also was sending him letters and packages (he later told her he never 
received them).

Then came a 6 a.m. call in April when she learned her son was in custody. 
She called Nigeria and the grandfather told her the boy had left for school 
one day and then disappeared. The boy had left a note and taken his 
passport, he said.

"If you send your child to grandparents, he's supposed to be watched," she 
said.

She then drove 18 hours to New York to find her son in a Queens hospital, 
recovering from the ordeal. The heroin packets had passed through his system.

"When I first saw him, I cried. I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop 
looking at him," she said. "If just one of those packets burst in him, he 
would have died."

Since then, she has commuted to New York several times; her son remains in 
a Bronx juvenile detention center.

"We don't talk much about the case. We talk about the family. He is anxious 
to see his brothers and sister," said the single mother who is raising four 
other children. "I tell him to keep his head up. To stay strong. And don't 
get in any kind of trouble."

The boy's defense attorneys claim he was coerced into carrying the drugs. 
There's a "strong possibility" he will testify, said Pat Bath, spokeswoman 
for the quasi-public Legal Aid Society of New York.

But prosecutors portray Umegbolu as a drug courier. "Obviously, he is not a 
victim in my eye," said prosecutor John Queenan. When the boy initially 
spoke to police, he made no mention of coercion, Queenan said.
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