Pubdate: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 Source: Miami Herald (FL) Copyright: 1999 The Miami Herald Contact: One Herald Plaza, Miami FL 33132-1693 Fax: (305) 376-8950 Website: http://www.herald.com/ Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald Author: SABRINA L. MILLER, Herald Staff Writer FEKETE FACES UP TO 30 YEARS Richard Fekete, the alcoholic federal agent who faced life in prison on murder charges after shooting a fellow agent in a drunken stupor, pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge of manslaughter, two weeks before his trial was to begin. Fekete, 57, a veteran Drug Enforcement Administration agent, had planned to use an "insanity by intoxication" defense to explain his actions the night of Dec. 12, 1997, when he shot agent Shaun Edmond Curl nine times with a 9mm pistol as Curl drove him home from a Christmas party. Curl, 39, a married father of two who lived in Coral Springs, was driving Fekete home as a favor because he had noticed Fekete had become too intoxicated to drive to his Pembroke Pines home. Curl was driving a DEA-issued Jeep Cherokee when Fekete shot him on U.S. 27, just north of the county line in Miramar. Fekete had a strong opportunity to prove his case -- four of the five doctors who evaluated him agreed he suffered from "alcohol-induced" psychosis the night he killed Curl. Fekete now faces a maximum of 30 years but is likely to receive less than half that time under recommended guidelines. Curl's widow, Kathleen, was in court Friday but declined to speak, saying she would wait until the Oct. 18 sentencing. She agreed to the deal. Defense attorney Glenn Kritzer said: "I think the deal is fair, it is an appropriate plea even though my client was insane at the time of the crime. The state would have had to prove sanity and I don't think they could have done that." Still, Kritzer said, insanity cases are difficult to prove and "we believed the deal was for the best." A bald, bespectacled Fekete -- no relation to Pembroke Pines Mayor Alex Fekete -- spoke in a strong, clear voice when Circuit Judge Paul Backman questioned him about whether he understood the ramifications of waiving his rights and pleading guilty. "You wish to enter an open plea of guilty to the count of manslaughter with a firearm, punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to 30 years in Florida State Prison. Is that correct?" Backman asked. "Correct, your honor," Fekete answered. "Are you presently under the influence of alcohol?" Backman continued. "No, I am not," Fekete said. The 33-year DEA veteran had been sent to psychological and alcohol-abuse counseling three times in his career, once after allegedly holding a gun to his wife's head in 1995 and threatening to kill her, court records revealed. He told internal investigators that he had blacked out during that incident. He also said he did not remember shooting Curl. The agency had been well informed of Fekete's drinking problems, dating back to at least 1979. The DEA was criticized for failing to take appropriate action against Fekete, but a spokesman blamed civil service laws for making it difficult to fire employees for alcohol abuse off the job. Kritzer said his client has been sober since his arrest. "He has completely dried out," Kritzer said. "He's feeling terribly, terribly bad about this tragedy and for the loss of his friend. He realizes that his life is ruined." Prosecutor Brian Cavanagh said the state was prepared to argue voluntary intoxication, meaning that Fekete was responsible for his actions. "We acknowledge that he had a defense but we dispute it. Under the circumstances the plea was the right thing to do. This way there is a measure of guarantee that the killer will go to prison." After Backman was assured that Fekete understood his actions, he set sentencing for Oct. 18. He could consider Fekete's psychological evaluations as a factor for leniency in sentencing. Before the hearing ended, Backman noted the irony of the situation. "Mr. Fekete, you're no stranger to rights being given, as you have given rights to others many, many times throughout your career," Backman said. "This is like second nature to you, you're just on a different side of the equation this time." - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck