City Ethics Panel Clears Williams : Probe: Commissioners say the chief violated no restrictions in accepting free lodging in Las Vegas. The issue of his truthfulness with Police Commission is not addressed.

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams did not violate municipal gift restrictions or disclosure requirements by accepting free accommodations at a Las Vegas hotel-casino, the city’s Ethics Commission has determined.

In a letter sent to Williams on Tuesday and obtained by The Times, the watchdog agency said its conclusions were based on a review of records from a Police Commission investigation of the chief. That investigation concluded with the Police Commission deciding unanimously to reprimand Williams for allegedly lying about whether he accepted free accommodations--a reprimand upheld by the mayor but overturned by the City Council last week.

The Ethics Commission review centered on whether the chief had violated city anti-corruption laws regarding the acceptance of gifts. It did not address the issue of truthfulness.

“Based on the findings contained in the decision and official reprimand issued by the Police Commission,” wrote Ben Bycel, the Ethics Commission’s executive director, “we have determined that you have not violated the gift restrictions or disclosure requirements to which you are subject. It is clear that any complimentary lodging you and Mrs. Williams received at a Las Vegas hotel ‘was not unavailable to a member of the public whose slot play reached your wife’s level.’ ”

“Furthermore,” the letter continued, “based on our review of the records of the Police Commission investigation, we conclude that the allegations that you improperly solicited and received free tickets from Universal Studios are not supported by the evidence.”

The letter was not publicly released.

In a written statement, the chief quoted key lines from the five-paragraph letter but declined, without explanation, to release it in its entirety. Through a spokesman, he also declined requests for an interview. “He just wants to put this behind him,” the spokesman, Cmdr. Tim McBride, said.

Bycel also declined to release or discuss it, although he acknowledged that it is standard practice for the commission to disclose its findings once an investigation is completed. “We are not releasing this because we do not want to become embroiled in a personnel matter” that had caused weeks of turmoil at City Hall, Bycel said.

The controversy arose from allegations that the chief had improperly taken free hotel rooms and other perks. It escalated when word of the Police Commission’s reprimand leaked out.

Williams angrily denied any impropriety and appealed to the City Council after Mayor Richard Riordan upheld the unanimous reprimand by his appointed advisory and policy-setting commission. The chief also hired a lawyer and threatened to sue the city, saying that his privacy rights had been violated by the leaks.

Eager to end the politically delicate matter and mend fences with the city’s popular chief, the City Council overturned the reprimand on a 12-1 vote without looking at the record.

In his statement, Williams said he was “pleased by the outcome of this review and that the results confirmed what I have said all along, that I have not engaged in any impropriety, ethical violation or violation of law.”

Williams’ attorney, Melanie Lomax, said she was delighted by the outcome. “This concludes all investigations of the chief,” Lomax said. “The city Ethics Commission looked at all of the documents provided by the Police Commission. On the merits, they have concluded that the chief did nothing wrong.”