Judge Rules Drug Money Case a Mistrial : Courts: A former sheriff’s sergeant was accused of using stolen funds to build his home. Jurors deadlocked after almost two weeks.

A mistrial was declared Monday in the federal court trial of a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant accused of using stolen drug money to help build his San Dimas home.

Jurors in the trial of Thomas Gordon said they were hopelessly deadlocked after nearly two weeks of deliberations. U.S. District Judge William J. Rea declared the mistrial in the latest case stemming from a corruption probe known as Operation Big Spender.

Federal prosecutors contended that Gordon laundered drug money skimmed by narcotics deputies and used the stolen cash to help pay for his custom-built home. Gordon, 44, had been convicted earlier of filing a false income tax return that prosecutors said failed to reflect the stolen cash.

Seventeen former deputies have been convicted or pleaded guilty in cases related to the money-skimming probe, focusing largely on members of several elite sheriff’s teams that investigated major narcotics traffickers.

On Monday, one of those former deputies, Stephen Nichols, was sentenced to 50 months in prison after pleading guilty to theft, money-laundering, obstruction of justice and income tax charges.

In seeking a seven-year sentence for Nichols, Assistant U.S. Atty. Barbara Schepper said prosecutors were prepared to show that he and other narcotics officers had skimmed drug money on at least 10 occasions.

But U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi imposed the lower sentence after saying Nichols had shown remorse.