Ken Hechtman
Ken Hechtman (born December 16, 1967) is a freelance journalist and convicted drug dealer from Canada who achieved brief international prominence in late 2001 when Afghanistan's Taliban government charged him with being a United States spy while he researched a story for the Montreal Mirror. Afghanistan tried, acquitted, and released him after a short time in jail.[1]
Early life
[edit]Hechtman was born in Montreal, Canada and attended Columbia University from 1987 to 1988.[2] He was suspended from Columbia from a year for stealing depleted Uranium-238 and other dangerous chemicals, and was required to reapply for admission. Instead, he planned to attend Vanier College.[3]
On November 25, 2001, he was captured by the Taliban hours after crossing into Afghanistan, while working as a reporter for the Montreal Mirror.[4] He was released approximately one week later.
In 2001, he identified as Jewish.[5]
Criminal charges
[edit]He married fellow Montrealer and journalist Wendy Hechtman on September 12, 2015. They moved to Nebraska in February 2016.[6]
In 2017, Hechtman and his wife Wendy were charged with conspiracy to manufacture 10 grams or more of fentanyl analogue, conspiracy to distribute a fentanyl analogue, and possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue between on or about March 2017 and October 30, 2017.[7] According to police investigators, the pair invented a pastel-colored version of carfentanil, an opioid that can be up to 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and that can kill a human with only a few grains touching human skin. Hechtman allegedly "developed a sophisticated marketing system with a sales team of about 40 people."[8]
They pleaded guilty, and were both sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in 2018.[9] Hechtman was released on probation in November 2023.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Steele, Jonathan (3 December 2001). "From rookie reporter to Taliban prisoner". the Guardian.
- ^ "Columbia Daily Spectator 24 February 1987 — Columbia Spectator". spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ "Freshmen Punished for Stealing Uranium | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ Steele, Jonathan (2001-12-04). "From rookie reporter to Taliban prisoner". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ Steele, Jonathan (2001-12-04). "From rookie reporter to Taliban prisoner". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
- ^ "Well-known Montreal couple face life imprisonment in Nebraska drug case".
- ^ "November 2017 Grand Jury". US Department of Justice. November 27, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Police: Couple invented, cooked, marketed carfentanil, an opioid that 'would pretty much kill you instantly'". Fox 6 Milwaukee. 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
- ^ Hassanzadeh, Erin (2019-01-29). "Busted Omaha drug operation sounds like fiction, except it wasn't". KETV. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
- ^ "United States v. Hechtman, 8:17-cr-00336 - CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
Bibliography
[edit]- Lisa Birnbach's New and Improved College Book, by Lisa Birnbach (1992) ISBN 0-671-79289-X
External links
[edit]- A Pravda report on Hechtman's captivity in Afghanistan.
- Ken Hechtman's Taliban story for the Montreal Mirror.
- A Columbia Spectator article.
- A Columbia Spectator article.
- An article by The Blue and White, Columbia University's undergraduate magazine
- The Montreal Mirror 25th anniversary tribute to Ken
- United States v. Hechtman (8:17-cr-00336), United States District Court, D. Nebraska