Countywide : U.S. Attorney Backs Gates’ Rancho Plan

The Justice Department and the County Board of Supervisors are poised for a showdown over Rancho del Rio, a sprawling smuggler’s haven seized by federal drug agents five years ago and given to the county to be used to enhance local law enforcement.

A terse, two-page letter from U.S. Atty. Robert L. Brosio, warning the county that a proposed sale of the property might violate federal drug laws, indicates that the federal prosecutor “does not fully understand the situation or the county budget process,” according to a staff memo prepared Wednesday for the supervisors.

Further, the board should not concern itself with the U.S. attorney’s “implied threat” that selling the property might bar the county from receiving proceeds from future federal drug seizures, the memo said.

The memorandum was prepared by Assistant County Counsel Arthur C. Wahlstedt and forwarded to the board by the county administrative officer, Ernie Schneider.

“I was very much concerned by the tone of the letter (from Brosio) and the prohibitions it purported to place on the possible sale of the property,” Schneider told the board.

Federal agents seized Rancho del Rio in 1985 after the Orange County Sheriff’s Department found evidence that the 23-acre ranch in South County was the base for a drug-smuggling ring.

Acting under a 1984 law allowing the government to donate assets seized during drug raids to local law enforcement efforts, federal officials gave the ranch to the county in 1987.

But the county could just as easily work through state authorities in future drug seizures, Wahlstedt said in his memo.

“With respect to Mr. Brosio’s implied threat to keep Orange County from receiving forfeitures in the future, you should know that there is a parallel program in the state,” Wahlstedt wrote. “Future forfeitures could be handled in this manner.”

The county staff’s response to Brosio’s letter is the latest development in a battle over the future of Rancho del Rio. Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates has proposed converting the ranch into a training center for local law enforcement agencies.

Facing an estimated $5-million budget deficit in the Sheriff’s Department this year, supervisors are considering a staff proposal to sell the property, which could bring in up to $2 million.

Gates has said that the proposed sale could violate the intent of federal drug laws.

Brosio’s letter reminded board members that the ranch was deeded to the county “based on the representation that the property would be developed into a law-enforcement training center.”

Grace Denton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, explained the letter further: “We’re not going to give them (the Board of Supervisors) money because they can’t balance the budget. If the money (from the sale of the ranch) were used to pay for programs already in the budget, it would violate federal drug laws.”

According to Wahlstedt’s memo, however, the county would be using the money to pay for programs for which there are currently no funds.

“As we understand the facts, the sheriff’s office is substantially over its 1989-90 budget, and sale is intended to partially alleviate this situation and permit that office to continue its operations for the remainder of this fiscal year,” Wahlstedt said in his memo.