By Jocelyn Edwards
March 1 (Reuters) – An assistant to an American
television producer who died after taking contaminated cocaine
in Uganda pleaded guilty on Thursday to drug possession, paid a
fine and was freed, her lawyers said.
Kathryne Fuller, 29, was charged with possession of cocaine
after taking drugs with producer Jeff Rice, who was found dead
in a Kampala hotel on Feb. 18.
An official toxicology report confirmed the drug was in
Rice’s blood, dispelling initial suspicions that the
father-of-two known for his work on the U.S. show “The Amazing
Race” had been poisoned by attackers.
“She was given the option of a fine of 1 million shillings
($420) or six months’ imprisonment,” Paul Rutisya, Fuller’s
lawyer, told Reuters. “We (paid) the fine.”
The South African woman was found unconscious in a hotel
room at the same time that Rice’s body was discovered.
“I took cocaine and I passed out. I can’t remember what
happened after that. I woke up in the hospital,” Fuller said.
Fuller has been released by Ugandan authorities to go home
to South Africa and seek medical treatment. She has been
paralysed down her right side since taking the drug and was
brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair.
“I feel much better knowing that I’m free to go,” she said.
Continued…
