Guard Officer Indicted in Drug Case : Inquiry: A captain is accused of trying to sell information about anti-crime investigations to suspected dealers.

A California Army National Guard captain assigned to an anti-drug operation was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of offering to sell secret details of an investigation of suspected drug traffickers for $150,000.

Capt. George Wilbur Butterfield, 36, of Apple Valley, was accused in a four-count indictment of bribery, obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting methamphetamine trafficking.

Butterfield is in state custody in San Bernardino County, facing arraignment in Los Angeles Federal Court. He was arrested earlier this month after returning from a visit with relatives in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The indictment charges that Butterfield was supervising National Guard teams as part of a long-term local, state and federal investigation of methamphetamine manufacturing in the San Bernardino area when he met with suspected drug traffickers March 15.

Acting U.S. Atty. Jeffrey C. Eglash, who is prosecuting the case, said the drug suspects took a copy of a confidential investigation plan from Butterfield, but they did not pay the officer any money.

Authorities learned about Butterfield’s purported $150,000 offer through lawyers representing the accused traffickers, Eglash said. Seven of the alleged dealers were later indicted on charges of conspiracy to deal in methamphetamines, the prosecutor said.

Lt. Stan Zezotarski, public information spokesman for the National Guard’s counter-narcotics unit, said Butterfield has a “good record” and was thoroughly investigated before becoming a participant in an anti-drug program.

Butterfield was a squad leader in “Task Force Grizzly,” a California Army National Guard operation to assist local, state and federal officials in drug investigations. His squad was responsible for conducting surveillance of remote sites believed to be used in making methamphetamine.

Butterfield entered the Army in 1971 and served 11 years, including a tour in Korea. He was commissioned as a National Guard officer in 1982.

Pending the outcome of the case, Zezotarski said Butterfield has been “terminated from orders,” a kind of suspension from duty.

In civilian life, Butterfield is employed as a trucker.

If convicted on all counts, Eglash said, Butterfield could be sentenced to up to life, with a minimum of 10 years imprisonment, and fined up to $4.9 million.