DEA agent could enter insanity plea

Kim Smith

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 10:13 a.m.

A defense attorney for a Drug Enforcement Administration agent accused of propositioning several young boys has set the stage for a possible insanity defense.

Defense attorney Richard Schonfeld said he told District Judge Joseph Bonaventure Thursday during Steven Kinney's arraignment that he is considering a mental health issue defense.

Schonfeld said that once he has received grand jury transcripts he and fellow defense attorney David Chesnoff will sit down with psychiatric experts to discuss the case.

Bonaventure scheduled a Nov. 4 trial after Kinney entered a not guilty plea.

Kinney, 42, faces 66 counts of attempted sexual assault, attempted statutory sexual seductions, attempted lewdness and solicitation of a minor to engage in acts constituting an infamous crime against nature.

Prosecutors allege Kinney wrote notes to 15 boys, wrapped them around small rocks and dropped them at the feet of boys in stores. Each of the notes reportedly asked the boys if they would submit to a sex act for between $20 and $50.

Most of the boys were between 9 and 14 years old. The incidents all allegedly took place between January and March.

According to grand jury transcripts, fingerprints found on at least some of the notes matched those of Kinney.

Kinney was a firearms instructor for the DEA along with being a narcotics investigator in Las Vegas. Kinney, a DEA agent since 1992, was suspended with pay on March 7, two days after the FBI and Metro searched his home.