Money Skimming Inquiry Expands to More Deputies

Federal and local agents have expanded their probe of alleged money skimming by one Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department narcotics squad and are now investigating the finances and conduct of other officers, sources said Wednesday.

The investigation, which initially focused on an elite, nine-member drug squad that was suspended Sept. 1, now includes officers from other narcotics units disbanded two weeks ago, said sources familiar with the investigation.

Sources said investigators recently have conducted financial background checks on selected officers from the other drug teams that, along with the suspended squad, have handled the department’s largest narcotics cases.

It is unclear how many of the approximately 30 officers on the three recently disbanded units are under investigation or if evidence of misconduct has been found against any of them, the sources said.

Disclosure of the widening probe came the day after a Superior Court judge dismissed a cocaine trafficking case that the district attorney said was just one of several that depend upon testimony by suspended deputies. It raises questions about how many more cases could be lost if other deputies are implicated.

Investigators are already pursuing tips from a number of drug dealers who allege that sheriff’s narcotics officers--including some not suspended--kept some of the money they seized, the sources said.

Limited Immunity Granted

The investigators have granted limited immunity to gain cooperation from the drug dealers and are arranging polygraph examinations to test their credibility, according to the sources.

Richard Shinee, lawyer for the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, said that reports of a spreading investigation are “consistent with the information I am getting.”

Agents have seized boats, cars and homes from some of the nine suspended deputies on grounds that the property was purchased with money allegedly stolen in drug raids.

The suspended officers are Deputies Terrell H. Amers, James R. Bauder, Nancy A. Brown, Eufrasio G. Cortez, Ronald E. Daub, John C. Dickenson, Daniel M. Garner and Michael J. Kaliterna and Sgt. Robert R. Sobel.

For use in the broader investigation, agents have also taken photographs of numerous officers who were members of the other major narcotics squads, according to sheriff’s sources.

An attorney who asked not to be identified said he had been questioned recently by investigators about a complaint by his client that hundreds of thousands of dollars were taken from him during an arrest but never turned over as evidence. The officers who seized the money have not been suspended, he said.

“They’re very interested in this case,” the lawyer said, but he would not elaborate on its status.

A spokesman from the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles--the agency coordinating the inquiry by the FBI, the IRS and the Sheriff’s Department--declined to comment on the scope of the investigation.

Money Skimming

Sheriff Sherman Block, at his first press conference since he announced the nine suspensions four weeks ago, would not comment Wednesday on whether the financial records of other officers have been checked, nor would he say whether investigators have looked into complaints by drug dealers.

But he did suggest that the money skimming probe may reach beyond the nine officers already suspended.

Asked if the official records of the ther major narcotics units have been audited by agents, he responded, “I think the answer should be obvious that we’re looking at a broad range of issues with this kind of potential.”

Block said that the inquiry is far from complete and that he had “no idea where (the investigation) may ultimately reach.”

”. . . It’s ongoing and will be ongoing for some time,” he said.

The sheriff said the investigation is proceeding methodically so as not to “put a cloud” over more officers than is necessary.

Sheriff’s investigators are reviewing procedures for the seizure of drug money and the methods of accounting for it, Block said. However, the sheriff said that he knows of no process that can prevent a dishonest officer from stealing seized cash during a raid.

Block said he and others in the department have felt betrayed by the alleged misconduct of the suspended officers.

He noted that two narcotics cases involving the suspended deputies have either been dismissed by a judge or withdrawn by prosecutors. He said the district attorney had referred to him four or five more cases that are jeopardized because the suspended officers are the only witnesses.

A Superior Court judge dismissed one case Tuesday when Block refused to turn over investigative information about the deputies.

“This troubles us greatly,” the sheriff said.

But he said the money skimming investigation is “far more critical to the long-term well being of this department.”

“These cases can be refiled,” he said.