Sheriff’s Dept. Suspends 9 Over Missing Funds : As Much as $200,000 Seized in Drug Probes Was Allegedly Lost

Nine veteran members of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s narcotics bureau--whose service ranged from nine to 22 years in the department--were suspended Friday for the alleged misappropriation of as much as $200,000 seized during drug investigations.

Sheriff Sherman Block, appearing saddened and subdued, announced at an afternoon press conference that eight deputies and a sergeant were placed on administrative leave with pay while federal and state law enforcement agents pursue an investigation begun last October after an internal audit uncovered apparent irregularities in the accounting of seized cash.

So far, no criminal charges have been filed in the case, which appears to mirror a major federal corruption prosecution of three veteran Los Angeles-based federal drug enforcement agents for stealing evidence.

“I deeply regret that I have to tell you that corruption has apparently touched members of my department and caused great embarrassment to all of us who wear a badge,” Block said.

‘Significant Amounts’

The sheriff declined to disclose the amount of money that the accused deputies had supposedly handled. But he said that narcotics officers in major cases “do come in contact with significant amounts of money.”

Block expressed concern about the reputation of the county police agency, acknowledging the possibility that the probe could become the department’s greatest corruption scandal. “It may turn out to be that,” he said. “It’s the first time anything of this magnitude has been suspected in this department.”

“It’s not nickel and dimes,” a federal law enforcement source told The Times. “We don’t know the full amount of money at this time. It could run into a couple of hundred thousand dollars. The money was not getting to the evidence vault. I think they took a little each time rather than a major amount.”

Alerted by Audit

The source, who asked to remain unidentified, said that the Sheriff’s Department was alerted by an internal audit. Another unconfirmed scenario making the rounds within the department, the source said, was that a wife of one of the deputies turned in her husband because “it isn’t right that my husband is coming home with all this money.”

There is no indication that narcotics were taken, Block said.

Block described the nine as “some of our senior narcotics investigators.” He said: “I wouldn’t say the most elite, but certainly, as evidenced by their years of service, there are some senior members of the department.”

They include:

Robert Sobel, a sergeant with 19 years’ service; and deputies Terrell H. Ammers, 22 years; James R. Bauder, 9 years; Nancy A. Brown, 17 years; Eufrazio G. Cortez, 14 years; Ronald E. Daub, 16 years; John C. Dickenson, 10 years; Daniel R. Garner, 18 years and Michael J. Kaliterna, 19 years.

The sheriff insisted that narcotics investigations will not be crippled by the probe. But, he said, “It certainly will be impacted because of the trauma of this situation.”

A top Sheriff’s Department official, who was not involved in the carefully-cloaked internal investigation, said that Friday’s announcement came as a “total shock.”

“We are devastated,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous. “This is a terrible day for us. We are talking about people with excellent reputations. This was a ‘majors crew’ working on major traffickers exclusively.”

“You’re talking about people with 19, 14, 12 years,” he said. “They have been around a long time. The pieces are just now falling out. I think the scope of this is just unbelievable. The question is whether it goes beyond this unit.”

Over the last year, the Sheriff’s Department has been under a torrent of bad publicity involving some of its deputies.

Last June, deputy George Thomas Markel--a lightning rod for complaints since he joined the department in 1978--was arrested on suspicion of robbing a prominent Miami attorney. In earlier complaints against him, Markel allegedly used unnecessary force to subdue a civilian and used “fear and intimidation” to get another deputy to help him claim unearned overtime.

Lawsuit Filed

In March, a former deputy, Eugene A. Harris, filed a suit alleging that the department tolerated “neo-Nazi-like” and “Ku-Klux-Klan-style” activities inside the Central Men’s Jail in a pattern of discrimination against black inmates and deputies alike. The FBI has been investigating allegations of racially motivated misconduct at the jail.

In February, sheriff’s narcotics detective Rickey Ross was arrested by Los Angeles police officers after he was found sitting in a parked car with a prostitute. Accused of murdering three other women, Ross spent three months in jail before being released when prosecutors found that ballistics tests performed on his gun had erroneously linked him to the slayings. Nonetheless, Ross was fired because he allegedly had been smoking cocaine with the prostitute.

And earlier in February, a group of partygoers complained that deputies used unnecessary force while arresting about 35 of them during a bridal shower in Cerritos. Guests complained that several of those arrested--including some in handcuffs--were beaten by the deputies.

The suspensions of the deputies came as federal prosecutors are preparing a major corruption case against Darnell Garcia, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent based in Los Angeles. Garcia was arrested in Luxembourg last July after a seven-month manhunt spearheaded by the DEA. Garcia, along with several other agents, was accused in a 36-count indictment of conspiring to set up a drug network and laundering profits from the operation through several banks.

IRS Joined Probe

Federal agents became involved in the sheriff’s probe in May, when Block asked the FBI to aid in the department’s internal investigation. The Internal Revenue Service joined in the probe in July.

Block was flanked at the press conference by Lawrence Lawler, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Los Angeles, and Earl J. Acquaviva, chief of the criminal investigation division of the Los Angeles IRS office.

The missing money was seized in drug investigations and never reached the evidence locker, Lawler said. “We continue to investigate it hand in glove with the Sheriff’s Department and the Internal Revenue Service,” Lawler said. “We’re not done with it yet, so we don’t have a handle on how much money is involved.”

U.S. Atty. Gary A. Feess said his office also is involved in the sheriff’s investigation.

‘Case Brought to Us’

“The case was brought to us by the Sheriff’s Department,” Feess said. “From the beginning, they’ve been interested that the case be thoroughly and completely investigated.”

The Sheriff’s Department seized about $34 million in drug money and 6,000 pounds of cocaine in 1988. The seizures represented sharp increases over 1987, sheriff’s officials said.

Meanwhile, during the same period, the Los Angeles Police Department seized $35 million in drug-related money and 10,500 pounds of cocaine. The figures were slight increases over 1987.

Despite the record figures, DEA officials in Washington have said that Miami remains the nation’s major cocaine transshipment center, but have noted that roughly 40% of the cocaine now entering the United States is being shipped into the Los Angeles area.

Block swore that he will not tolerate corruption in his department.

“Our community and nation is engaged in a war against drugs,” he said. “This is a war which, if lost, will destroy our nation and our freedoms as surely as any other war in which our country has fought and emerged victorious.

“We cannot tolerate defections by those entrusted to defend us. Any hint of corruption in this department will be vigorously investigated, and those involved in corrupt conduct, prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

There was no indication Friday how long the investigation is expected to continue.