FBI, IRS Arrest Convicted Deputy : Crime: He is accused of trying to arrange narcotics deals. He had been found guilty in drug money-skimming scandal.

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was convicted in a drug money-skimming scandal has been jailed after federal prosecutors accused him of trying to arrange several narcotics deals while free on bail.

Macario M. Duran, a one-time member of an elite narcotics team, was arrested last weekend after he allegedly attempted to purchase and sell more than 40 pounds of cocaine while facing additional charges in the money-skimming case, authorities said Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Thomas H. Bienert Jr. said the 44-year-old Duran was taken into custody Friday by FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents after the former narcotics officer asked ex-informants to help him steal 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of cocaine that he could sell for cash and offered to act as a broker in another drug transaction.

“It is obvious that Duran is attempting to obtain a large amount of currency,” Bienert said in court papers seeking to revoke the former deputy’s $75,000 bail. “The obvious use for such currency would be to finance his flight if and when he determines that he may be incarcerated.”

Duran’s attorney, Terrence A. Roden, disputed claims that his client was involved in any narcotics transactions and will challenge the government’s assertions at a bail hearing next week.

“At the hearing, we will present evidence which will show that there was absolutely no criminal activity taking place on the part of my client,” said Roden who also disputed the prosecution’s stance that Duran was amassing money to leave the country.

Bienert, however, said secretly taped conversations show that Duran repeatedly called one of his ex-informants and offered him $100,000 to introduce him to cocaine dealers who could supply him with the drug.

According to government transcripts, Duran is quoted as telling Roberto Sandoval--a Drug Enforcement Administration informant in San Diego--that he had prospective buyers lined up to purchase 20 kilograms of cocaine. At another point, Duran reportedly tells Sandoval that he plans to steal the cocaine without paying for it, then sell the drug later.

In addition to the information contained in the transcripts, government prosecutors said another of Duran’s former informants--identified as Elio Chacon--told investigators he was asked to help Duran recruit some “mules” or couriers to smuggle cocaine into the United States. None of the alleged drug deals was completed.

Roden questioned the accuracy of the government transcripts--which were translated from Spanish--and challenged their conclusions.

“Their interpretation (of the telephone conversations) is totally wrong,” the attorney said, though he declined to disclose the purpose of his client’s conversations with Sandoval, which occurred between Nov. 8 and Dec. 11 last year. He said he would explain next week.

According to the transcript, Duran asked Sandoval on Dec. 7 for his address in Guadalajara and said, “Maybe I’ll move from here, and that way we can get in touch, and everything.”

Although prosecutors said the tape shows that Duran planned to flee the country, Roden said the conversation merely reflects Duran’s desire to remain in contact with an old friend. He also called Duran’s arrest only the latest attempt to force his client to cooperate with prosecutors.

“They want to pressure Macario and his family, and they want to make this as painful as possible,” he said. Prosecutors denied the allegation.

Duran, his wife, Maria, and his mother-in-law, Lilia Vazquez, also have been indicted on various charges including tax evasion, money-laundering and conspiracy to obstruct a federal probe into allegations that narcotics deputies had stolen more than $1.4 million during drug raids.

At their arraignment on Wednesday, all three pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Duran, who was arrested while working as a security guard at a trucking firm, was tried last year with six other deputies. His co-defendants were convicted of conspiracy and theft of drug money, but Duran was convicted only on a single count of structuring cash transactions to conceal large amounts of cash in his bank accounts.

In his court filing, Bienert said the drug-trafficking investigation of Duran began after Sandoval told DEA agents in San Diego that Duran, who spoke of his interest in “the white one” or cocaine, contacted him last November and asked to be introduced to drug dealers. The agency subsequently taped Duran’s conversations with both Sandoval and an undercover DEA agent posing as a drug dealer, the prosecutor said.

Investigators learned of the connection between Duran and Chacon when the latter was arrested last month by Los Angeles police officers on cocaine possession charges, according to the court papers.

As he was being booked, Chacon’s pager began beeping. The phone number on his pager turned out to be Duran’s, and Chacon told police that Duran had approached him in mid-December about participating in a cocaine deal.

Questioned subsequently by sheriff’s investigators, Chacon described meeting Duran and another man at a hamburger stand to discuss plans to import cocaine, the prosecutor said. That Feb. 5 session with investigators was interrupted when Chacon’s pager was activated, and Chacon called the number that appeared on his pager and left his own phone number.

“Shortly thereafter, the telephone rang and Chacon answered,” the government said. “The ensuing conversation was a brief one in which Chacon told the caller to call him back later. After getting off the telephone, Chacon stated that the caller was Macario Duran.”