Ex-Deputy D.A. Admits His Guilt in Narcotics Ring

Former Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Bryan Ray Kazarian has pleaded guilty to a federal drug-trafficking conspiracy charge, according to court documents unsealed Monday that shed some light on a drug case long shrouded in secrecy.

Eight of Kazarian’s co-defendants have also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their roles in an elaborate drug-smuggling ring that produced and distributed methamphetamine and cocaine.

The documents’ release comes two months before the scheduled start of the trial against the six remaining defendants, including the alleged ringleader, John David Ward. Also facing charges is the founder of the local chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, Howard Irvine Coones.

The plea bargains with federal prosecutors were reached late last year in closed-door proceedings and were immediately sealed. Though the records released Monday do not list the sentences Kazarian and his co-defendants received, they provide the first details about the case since the ring was broken up last year.

In June, Kazarian and most of the others were arrested and charged with participating in the ring. Prosecutors allege that ring members smuggled methamphetamine in shipments of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and laundered money from the $580,000-per-week operation.

Kazarian was accused of being a key player who allegedly passed along sensitive information about the investigation to ring leaders. A former gang prosecutor, Kazarian’s whereabouts have not been disclosed since being taken into federal custody.

Coones’ attorney, Mark Heaney, said he anticipates Kazarian and other alleged ring members will be prosecution witnesses during the trial. Prosecutors have fought to keep the plea agreements sealed, saying their release would jeopardize the case.

If convicted, some of the defendants could be sentenced to up to life in prison.