Facing the Music

WASHINGTON, D.C.: His diplomatic immunity revoked, Georgian diplomat Gueorgui Makharadze, the Republic of Georgia's number-two envoy in Washington, turned himself in to Washington, D.C. police Thursday to face charges that his drunken driving caused the death of a 16-year-old girl earlier this year. Cruising through busy downtown streets at speeds up to 85 mph, Makharadze had careened into a line of cars waiting at a stoplight on Connecticut Avenue, setting off a fatal chain reaction. If found guilty of manslaughter, the 35-year-old diplomat could spend the next 30 years in a U.S. prison, with the possibility of an additional 40 year penalty for injuries caused to others. In a move no less damaging to Makharadze's future career, if any, Tblisi may ask that the sentence be served in Georgia instead.