3 More Accused of Stealing Drug Money : Inquiry: They and others allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars seized by sheriff’s narcotics unit.

Three current and former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, including one with a past history of scandal, have been indicted on theft charges as part of a massive investigation into corruption in the law enforcement agency, authorities said Wednesday.

The indictments charge Macario Duran, 48, of Northridge, and Jesse Clarence Miller, 49, of Los Angeles, with conspiring to steal, and stealing, seized drug money when they were members of the Sheriff’s Department’s elite Major Violators narcotics unit.

Robert James Bardon, 40, of Canyon Country, was also indicted on one count of stealing the seized cash when he was a member of another of the four Major Violators crews assigned to investigate narcotics trafficking. The funds taken belonged to the government.

The indictments, returned by a federal grand jury May 5, are part of an ongoing investigation conducted by the Big Spender Task Force, including the Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Stefan D. Stein, who is prosecuting the cases, said the investigation is ongoing.

If convicted on all counts, Duran and Miller each face up to 45 years in prison and $1.25 million in fines. Bardon faces up to 10 years imprisonment and as much as $250,000 in fines.

Duran has already been convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison based on earlier corruption charges, and was fired. Miller and Bardon have been suspended pending the outcome of the trials, Stein said.

The indictment alleges that between 1987 and 1989, Duran and Miller and other members of their unit stole tens of thousands of dollars in seized currency, or received stolen currency, during narcotics investigations. At least three other members of their team already have pleaded guilty to stealing drug money.

Bardon is suspected of participating in the theft of at least $5,000, according to the indictment.

All four narcotics units were stationed in Whittier, and often worked together making arrests, engaging in surveillance, executing search warrants and conducting other aspects of major narcotics trafficking investigations in which they came across large sums of money.

The investigators were required to turn over as evidence all the currency they seized. But according to the indictment, Duran and Miller “would steal all or a portion of that currency and then distribute the currency among themselves.”

The two men and co-conspirators within their unit would then file false police reports to cover up the theft, according to the indictment.

In all, 19 former sheriff’s deputies and half a dozen of their relatives and friends have been convicted.