Deputy Pleads Not Guilty

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy charged with purchasing more than two pounds of cocaine during a sting operation planned to take the contraband to Tennessee and become a drug dealer, a prosecutor said Friday.

The disclosure was made in Los Angeles Municipal Court, where William Barr pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges stemming from Wednesday’s undercover operation.

Meanwhile, Barr, 25, of Bellflower, formally resigned Friday from the Sheriff’s Department, where he had been a deputy for 4 1/2 years, most recently serving as a guard at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho near Castaic, a department spokeswoman said.

During a short arraignment, Judge Barry Taylor set Barr’s bail at $50,000 and scheduled a March 17 preliminary hearing.

Barr is being represented by a public defender, but no attorney has been assigned yet.

Undercover sheriff’s deputies said they sold Barr a kilogram--2.2 pounds--of cocaine Wednesday afternoon in the Terminal Annex Post Office parking lot in Downtown Los Angeles. Barr was arrested without incident immediately after the transaction, according to sheriff’s officials, who added that two semiautomatic pistols were recovered from Barr’s vehicle.

Authorities said the sting operation came after a one-month investigation that started when an informant said Barr had inquired about purchasing a substantial quantity of drugs. Sheriff’s Department officials would not comment Friday on the informant’s identity.

At the time of his arrest, Barr was assigned to the North County Correctional Facility, a maximum-security jail at the Pitchess Honor Rancho, a sprawling facility where more than 10,000 inmates are housed.

In a criminal complaint filed Friday, Barr was charged with one count of possession of cocaine for sale and one count of selling cocaine.

If convicted, Barr would face a maximum penalty of five years in state prison, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Yochelson.

Citing his office’s policy, Yochelson would not comment on whether Barr was being investigated in relation to any other drug deals.