Plea agreement possible in gun-purchase
                   charges
                   Woman accused of buying weapons for Palczynski pleads not guilty
                   in court

                   By Dennis O'Brien
                          Sun Staff

                   An Essex woman charged with buying guns for Joseph C. Palczynski
                   pleaded not guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and
                   might try to negotiate a plea agreement with prosecutors.

                   Constance Ann Waugh, 48, was arraigned yesterday before
                   Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner on charges of violating firearms
                   statutes by making false statements when she purchased guns for
                   Palczynski on March 6. Police say he used the guns to kill four
                   people.

                   Waugh, dressed in blue slacks and a blue jacket, appeared alert and
                   responsive yesterday as she stood beside her lawyer, Richard H.
                   Boucher Jr., and told Gesner that she understood the charges. She
                   requested a jury trial.

                   Waugh appeared dazed and had trouble answering questions during
                   her first court appearance on March 13. The judge ordered her then
                   to undergo a psychological evaluation, which determined she was
                   mentally competent to stand trial.

                   Boucher said a conviction on all four gun charges could bring up to
                   40 years in prison and that he would probably discuss a plea
                   agreement before trial.

                   "The government and the defense are speaking about this case, and
                   will continue to talk about it," he said. Boucher declined to comment
                   further.

                   James Webster, an assistant U.S. attorney, told Gesner he expected
                   the trial to take about two days. The case has been assigned to
                   Judge Marvin J. Garbis; a trial date is expected to be set Monday.

                   An affidavit filed in the case says Palczynski came to Waugh's home
                   March 6 and asked her to buy guns and ammunition for him, saying
                   he wanted them for target practice. He told Waugh he couldn't
                   purchase the weapons because of an assault conviction.

                   Palczynski drove Waugh to White Marsh Arms in White Marsh and
                   The Gun Shop in Essex, where she made the purchases, the
                   document says. He supplied her with a bill of sale for $1,600,
                   according to the affidavit.

                   Waugh acknowledged buying the guns for Palczynski, telling agents
                   of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms that she had known
                   him since he was a child, according to the affidavit.

                   Waugh is charged with making false statements in the purchases,
                   allegedly telling the dealers that the guns were gifts for her husband,
                   said Agent Michael Campbell, a spokesman for the ATF.

                   Under federal law, it is legal to buy guns as gifts but illegal to buy
                   them for a felon.

                   Waugh remains free on her own recognizance. She declined to
                   comment yesterday. Boucher said, "She's been devastated by this
                   whole series of events, and you can understand why."

                   Police say Palczynski killed three people March 7 when his
                   estranged girlfriend, Tracy Whitehead, was abducted from a
                   Bowleys Quarters apartment. Whitehead escaped the next night after
                   a motorist was fatally shot during a carjacking attempt.

                   Palczynski remained at large 10 days, fleeing to Virginia before he
                   shot his way into a Dundalk apartment, where he held Whitehead's
                   mother, her mother's boyfriend and their 12-year-old son hostage.

                   The standoff ended March 21 when the mother and boyfriend
                   slipped out a bedroom window, and police stormed the apartment,
                   killing Palczynski and rescuing the boy.

                   Originally published on Apr 1 2000