News: All-star aid for jailed producer

But the release of a music producer from a Dubai jail this week, quick on the heels of his conviction for drug possession, turns out to be a story of high-level string-pulling on the part of Hatch, the conservative Utah Republican and songwriter; along with Lionel Richie, the singer; Quincy Jones, the music entrepreneur; and an array of well-connected lawyers, businesspeople and others, spanning cities and continents.

Dallas Austin, who has produced hits for Madonna, Janet Jackson and others, flew home to Atlanta on Wednesday, after being released after midnight on Tuesday from a holding cell in a Dubai jail. Hours earlier, Austin, who is in his 30s, had been sentenced to four years in prison for carrying just over a gram of cocaine with him when he entered the country on May 19 to attend a birthday celebration for Naomi Campbell.

Hatch made numerous phone calls on Austin's behalf to the ambassador and consul of the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington - Dubai is one of the seven emirates - and served as an intermediary to Austin's representatives, the producer's lawyers said.

"The senator was one of a number of people who was very actively involved," said Joe Reeder, the Washington lawyer who, with an Atlanta colleague, Joel Katz, spent 10 days in Dubai working to secure Austin's reprieve.

Katz, an entertainment lawyer, represents both Austin and the musically somewhat less successful Hatch, a singer and songwriter who has recorded religious-oriented albums. After hiring Katz's firm, the senator last year took in $39,092 in income from music publishing, according to financial documents filed in May under the Ethics in Government Act.

The senator declined to be interviewed or to confirm details of his efforts on Austin's behalf, but he issued a statement acknowledging his involvement and said he was asked by Austin's attorneys to help.

A spokesman for Hatch said the senator is a proponent of rehabilitation for drug offenders and has worked to revise federal sentencing guidelines regarding cocaine, advocating treatment for nonviolent offenders and easing restrictions on medication to treat heroin addiction.

Until word of the pardon came through in a call to the One and Only Royal Mirage hotel along the Dubai beach, where Austin's lawyers waited nervously for news of their client's fate, the release of Austin was not a certainty.

"This involved multiple ambassadors, a prime minister, a prince, Lionel Richie, the senator and religious leaders in Atlanta," Reeder said.

Randy Phillips, a manager of Richie's, said, "He happened to know the right people, and better than that, the right people were ready to step out on a limb for him, which doesn't happen that often."

The Dubai government gave no reason for the pardon. "In an issue like this it is not unusual," said Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, head of Dubai Police, who said he was speaking in general terms and could not discuss the case in detail.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum pardoned the American R&B producer Tuesday, hours after he was sentenced to four years in prison for possession of cocaine. Dubai prosecutors confirmed that Austin was pardoned, on the condition that he leave Dubai as soon as all the paperwork to process his release was completed. Austin would have to get permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to return to the country.

"The Austin family and countless dear friends are very happy to have Dallas back home, safe and sound," Austin's representative, Michelle Benson, said. "They also are grateful to the leadership of the UAE and Dubai for their sensitivity and humanity."

Austin, 33 - who's worked with TLC, Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Pink, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and many others over his 17-year career - was traveling to Dubai to attend Naomi Campbell's three-day birthday party at the Burj Al Arab hotel when he was detained at Dubai International Airport on May 19.

Dubai police had pulled Austin aside at customs upon his arrival at the airport and searched his luggage, where they found a small bag containing slightly more than a gram of cocaine. The presence of restricted drugs and medication in the body can count as possession in the United Arab Emirates, the Persian Gulf nation in which Dubai is located, and Austin's urine had also tested positive for drugs, according to authorities.

Austin claimed at his arraignment on Sunday that he was only guilty "by mistake". "I had no knowledge and no intention of violating the law," he told the court.