One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Private Pot Plane: Socialite Pleads Guilty To Drug Smuggling
(Photo: Drug Enforcement Agency)
Lisette Lee, the Beverly Hills socialite and actress who left on a private jet from Van Nuys airport in June and was subsequently arrested in Columbus, Ohio for smuggling more than 500 pounds of marijuana inside 13 suitcases, has pleaded guilty. At the time of the arrest, authorities also confiscated cocaine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, three cell phones and suspected drug ledgers from Lee's bag.Authorities say Lee acted as the "primary courier for a scheme that distributed about 7,000 pounds of the drug and made more than $3 million from November 2009 through April," reports KTLA. The 29-year-old now faces 10 years to life.
Lee, who according to online reports may be part of the Samsung family fortune, notes KTLA, initially told investigators she had been paid by a friend to take suitcases from Los Angeles to a hotel room in Columbus, wait there a few days, and then return to LA with fewer pieces of luggage. She also told investigators that she'd chartered the plane to transport equipment to a horse farm in Ohio. Later, Lee admitted "she and her entourage knew the horse story was phony and that they were likely involved with 'weapons and money laundering or something,' authorities wrote in court papers, reports KTLA.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
