Ex-Navy pilot sent to prison
BY PAUL SNUKOVSKY; P-I reporter: June 15, 2004

  A former Navy pilot who used his uniform to smuggle the psychotropic drug Ecstasy across the Canadian border was sentenced to almost four years in federal prison yesterday.
  Lt. Alan Vaughn, 29, who once flew top-secret, surveillance planes out of Whidbey island Naval Air Station, "has tarnished the image of all members of the Naval service by his selfish actions," wrote Rear Admiral L. Hering in a letter to U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman. "He threatens the fine reputation and steadfast commitment of the men and women of the naval service who are deserving of the utmost respect and recognition."
  Vaughn, after reading Hering's letter, stood at attention before Pechman and said: "I agree wholeheartedly with the admiral. I have a lot of shame."
  The case against Vaughn began in January when a confidential informant told investigators that Vaughn was trafficking in the drug. Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Navy Criminal Investigative Service wired an informant with a recorder, and the informant then bought an ounce of Ecstasy from Vaughn for $1,500, according to court documents.
  Vaughn was caught on tape saying he used his military ID card to avoid inspection by customs officers at the border when he was smuggling the drug. Court documents quote the pilot as saying "he was not worried about the border crossing because of his appearance, naval officer status, and not being a 'profile subject.’”
  He was arrested on Feb. 21 after crossing the border from Canada. He presented his military ID, but customs inspectors had been tipped off that he had drugs. A search uncovered enough Ecstasy to produce over 1,000 doses, wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Friedman.
  Vaughn was discharged under "other than honorable" conditions.