Drug Team Sergeant Will Testify Against Crew

Sgt. Robert R. Sobel, who commanded eight deputies indicted with him in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department money-skimming scandal, has reached a plea bargain with federal prosecutors and will testify against his former narcotics team, Sobel’s attorney said Friday.

Attorney Mark Beck said that the veteran sergeant will plead guilty next week to single counts of conspiracy and filing a false tax return and that all five theft charges against him will be dropped.

“Sgt. Sobel’s decision was dictated by a sense of wanting to act responsibly in the face of these very serious allegations,” Beck said. “The deal we struck brings the sentence much lower than it might have been.”

Sobel could have faced a maximum sentence of 58 years. Now, if a federal judge follows the recommendation of prosecutors, he would receive a maximum sentence of eight years.

Sobel, 44, is living under federal protection at an undisclosed location, sources said.

Meanwhile, nine deputies indicted on charges of stealing more than $1.4 million in seized drug money surrendered Friday morning, then were released after a federal judge set bail at $25,000 for eight of them. Bail for Deputy Eufrasio G. Cortez was set at $75,000.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey C. Eglash said prosecutors based their bail requests “on the different counts (in the indictment) and what we know about the individuals.”

Cortez is accused of personally participating in the theft of $712,000 and spending more stolen cash--about $209,000--than any of the other deputies.

Prosecutors had asked originally for bail of $100,000 each but did not claim that the deputies are serious flight risks.

U.S. Magistrate Ralph J. Geffen set bail at $15,000 for Maria Duran, wife of indicted Deputy Macario M. Duran. She is charged with using a financial scheme to hide $88,500 stolen during drug raids.

Arraignment of the officers was set for March 5.

Most of the deputies refused to respond in detail to allegations in a 27-count grand jury indictment charging them with theft, conspiracy, money-laundering and filing false tax returns.

“We deny the allegation and look forward to litigating the case. We’re glad this can now be resolved,” said Jay Lichtman, lawyer for Deputy Ronald E. Daub.

“I feel we’ll be vindicated,” said Deputy Terrell H. Amers, who was charged with six theft counts.

Maria Duran’s attorney, Scott S. Furstman, said federal agents had seized her Mercedes-Benz Thursday as the indictment was handed down.

As he walked from the courthouse with the couple, Furstman said, “We will be pleading not guilty and looking forward for the opportunity to litigate it in court and vindicate them.”

Unlike the other officers, Deputy Daniel M. Garner of Irvine held a 30-minute press conference on the federal courthouse steps. He maintained his innocence and criticized prosecutors for indicting him without allowing him to testify before the grand jury.

“I’m looking forward to my day in court,” he said. “I’m dying to get up there and tell my side of the story.”

Garner, 43, was indicted on five counts of theft and is accused of spending $52,000 in stolen money on a condominium, landscaping for his home and a car. The officer said he can explain the source of each dollar.

The indictment alleges that Garner once told another member of his elite drug team that Garner could “make him rich.”

Garner told a reporter that he thinks Sgt. Sobel is the source of that statement, and he questioned the crew leader’s mental soundness.

Several narcotics officers have said Sobel dubbed himself “El Diablo,” or “The Devil,” while leading drug crews and often directed his troops to “march or die” during long, difficult stakeouts.

All nine members of Sobel’s crew were suspended Sept. 1, just two days after $48,000 in planted money turned up missing during a videotaped sting operation by the FBI.

Deputy James Bauder is shown on the videotape stuffing three $10,000 bundles into Garner’s leather briefcase. Prosecutors say the officers stole the money.

But Garner told reporters Friday that the money was taken as evidence and was turned in. Bauder said the same thing in a recent interview.

Garner’s lawyer, Harland Braun, said his client “has been swept up in the hysteria” of the 18-month investigation.

He also accused the Sheriff’s Department of allowing cocaine traffickers to operate in Los Angeles County by directing its narcotics officers to concentrate on seizing cash from drug-money launderers, rather than arresting drug dealers and confiscating narcotics.

When money is seized from launderers, they often renounce claim to it and are released since there is no hard evidence that the cash came from illegal activity, Braun said.

Braun said the department’s emphasis on cash seizures has created a climate where fighting crime is less important than confiscating cash. That, he said, “is asking officers to stray over the line” and steal money.

Statistics from the Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department show that each agency seized about $67 million in cash over the last two years. The LAPD confiscated about 60,000 pounds of cocaine, while sheriff’s deputies seized nearly 10,000 pounds.

Capt. Doug McClure, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, has said the seizure of drugs and money are “both very high priorities” and equally important to the department.

Daub’s attorney, Lichtman, said his client is relieved to finally have an opportunity to defend himself. The lawyer criticized Sheriff Sherman Block for announcing the names of the suspended deputies last September--months before any charges were brought against them.

“It has been difficult for (Daub) with this aura of suspicion that he has been living with for six months. We’re glad this now can be resolved,” Lichtman said.

As they left the court hearing, Bauder and other deputies declined comment, saying they were under orders from their attorneys not to talk about the case.

In a brief statement, Deputy John C. Dickenson said he was not surprised by the indictment, but he maintained his innocence. According to the indictment, Dickenson received a share of the $48,000 allegedly stolen during the Aug. 30 sting.

His attorney, Charles A. Goldwasser, noted that Dickenson had been with the narcotics team for only five months when the members were suspended.

“Mr. Dickenson isn’t involved. No wrongdoing at all,” Goldwasser said. “He just happened to be a member of the unit.”

Bauder, Garner, Sobel and Deputy Nancy A. Brown were accused of actually stealing the money during a drug raid at the Sherman Oaks Hilton. When she was suspended two days later, the indictment said Brown had $13,280 in cash in her possession.

Brown refused to comment after Friday’s court hearing, but her attorney, Roger Hanson, said the evidence against his client was “very sparse. At best she was only involved in the tail end of the allegations.”

Hanson said Brown, who had been with the narcotics team for only three months, expected to prevail in court and was not considering any plea arrangement. “I don’t expect to make some deal. We expect to be acquitted,” he said.

Deputy Michael J. Kaliterna refused all comment on the case.

Eight other deputies who were suspended last October were not indicted. They remain on paid administrative leave from their jobs.