BY LUISA YANEZ

 The Florida Keys woman who sparked an international custody dispute when she spirited her young son to Cuba last year plans to plead guilty next week to the federal kidnapping charge she faced upon their return to Miami, attorney Ellis Rubin confirmed Thursday.

 According to the plea deal still being finalized, Arletis Blanco, 29, of Key Largo, will admit she took her American-born 6-year-old son, Jonathon Colombini, in violation of a joint custody agreement with her ex-husband, Rubin said.

 ``We have been negotiating with the prosecutor, and we think we have arrived at a just conclusion to her troubles in federal court,'' Rubin said.

 In February, while Blanco was in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, a federal grand jury in Key West indicted her on international parental kidnapping charges.

 She returned to South Florida Aug. 16 and was arrested by the FBI at Miami International Airport. Jonathon was handed over to his father, Jon Colombini, 32, of
 Homestead. Blanco pleaded not guilty a day after her return.

 Blanco's plea deal will be presented to a federal judge at a Tuesday morning hearing in Key West. Conditions of the agreement are still being negotiated. Unclear yet is how much jail time, if any, Blanco might receive.

 ``We're still negotiating, that's all I can say,'' Rubin said.

 Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Daniel, who is prosecuting the case, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Aloyma Sanchez, spokeswoman for the U.S.
 attorney's office in Miami, declined to comment.

 In addition, Blanco, who was released on bond from the Monroe County Detention Center last week and is staying with relatives in Tavernier, still faces multiple state charges, Rubin said.

 In Monroe, Blanco is wanted for allegedly embezzling close to $150,000 from McKenzie Petroleum in the Keys, where she was an office manager. State prosecutors have also charged Blanco with forgery for allegedly passing a bad check for $5,450 at Cudjoe Key Fishing Equipment Sales, a commercial fishing business.

 Authorities suspect Blanco fled to her native Cuba in November 2000 to avoid detection and prosecution. Blanco left the United States on a 21-foot Mako, along with her boyfriend, Agustin Lemus, 37, their toddler daughter and a second man.

 She spent nine months on the island, where she told the media she felt her son would have a better life. Rubin later said she was coerced into making those and other
 statements.

 Meanwhile, Colombini launched a legal battle to get his son back, hiring Clearwater attorney Michael Berry, who specializes in international custody cases. Colombini and Berry traveled to the island and appealed to Cuban authorities to allow Jonathon to be returned.

 State Department officials helped Colombini in his negotiations. After months of legal wrangling, Blanco agreed to return, but only if her boyfriend and daughter could return with her and Jonathon. She was arrested as she got off a flight at MIA. Her boyfriend was not charged.

 Jonathon is now living with his father, who plans to move to Alabama after the school year ends.

 Jon Colombini said Thursday the boy and his mother recently saw each other.

 "After she deals with her legal problems, we'll decide what to do about visitation and what is in the best interest of Jonathon,'' Colombini said.

 The couple divorced in 1998. Colombini remarried and has two other sons.

 At the time Blanco fled, she and Colombini shared custody. Jonathon lived with his mother and attended kindergarten at Plantation Key School. After Blanco left, a
 Monroe County court granted sole temporary custody to Colombini.

                                    © 2001