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Private Pot Plane: Socialite Pleads Guilty To Drug Smuggling

lisette_lee_dea.jpg
(Photo: Drug Enforcement Agency)

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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.

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