Suspensions Seen No Risk to Drug Cases : Prosecutor Reviews Arrests by Narcotics Unit Under Suspicion

A top Los Angeles County prosecutor said Tuesday that the suspensions of nine members of a Sheriff’s Department narcotics team in an alleged money-skimming scheme are not likely to jeopardize any major narcotics cases.

But Robert Schirn, head of the district attorney’s major narcotics division, said his office still is searching for court cases involving the officers.

Schirn said that a weekend review of nearly 200 pending drug cases had uncovered five that probably will require testimony from one or more of the suspended officers.

Taken Off Job

The eight deputies and a sergeant--most of them senior members of a major narcotics investigative unit--were taken off the job last Friday as Sheriff Sherman Block announced that team members were suspected of stealing money seized in drug raids. Block called the case potentially the worst corruption case in his seven-year tenure as head of the nation’s largest Sheriff’s Department.

The officers, who made up one of a handful of teams based in the department’s narcotics bureau in Whittier, were placed on administrative leave as federal and county investigators look into allegations that they misappropriated tens of thousands of dollars.

One federal law enforcement source said that at least $200,000 might have been taken over the last year. There was no indication that narcotics were also stolen.

In the wake of Friday’s announcement, Schirn spent the Labor Day weekend reviewing pending cases in his office and identified those involving members of the narcotics team. He said in at least five cases, the officers were included as possible witnesses for the prosecution. Schirn said Tuesday that the cases have not been jeopardized by the alleged misappropriation of cash and that officers from other agencies also participating in the drug raids could provide the needed evidence. But he cautioned that prosecutors can only wait to see how the investigation unfolds.

“All it means is that members of that team were involved in these cases,” Schirn said. “Until we receive some definitive word that they are unable to testify or that their credibility is damaged, we will continue to prosecute these cases.”

Schirn would not elaborate on the specifics of the cases he had singled out but said one involved the seizure of as much as 800 pounds of cocaine which had a wholesale value of $8 million to $12 million. Several other cases involved the confiscation of drugs in the 10-kilo range, he said. Schirn, however, declined to say how many of the five cases involved drug money found at the scene.

In pursuing the case against the deputies, Lawrence Lawler, FBI agent-in-charge of the Los Angeles office, said Friday that investigators had found that some of the money seized in drug raids had never made it to the evidence locker.

Both the FBI and the Sheriff’s Department refused comment Tuesday on the investigation.

The officers placed on administrative leave are Sgt. Robert Sobel, a 19-year department veteran who once headed the narcotics unit at the Lennox sheriff’s station, and Deputies Terrell H. Amers, James R. Bauder, Nancy A. Brown, Eufrasio G. Cortez, Ronald E. Daub, John C. Dickenson, Daniel R. Garner and Michael J. Kaliterna. All were relieved of duty, but they will continue to be paid and will be allowed to carry a badge and gun.

A source close to the suspected officers said Tuesday that they have braced themselves for arrest, but there is no indication that such action appears imminent.

In fact, several Sheriff Department sources suggested that in suspending the entire narcotics team--including two members who reportedly joined the unit a few months ago--authorities appear to be unsure who is responsible for the allegedly misappropriated funds.

The sources said federal agents, including investigators from the Internal Revenue Service, are now busy trying to determine whether any officers may be living beyond their means--an indication that they may have been involved in misappropriation.

Richard Shinee, an attorney for the deputies’ union, however, said he had spoken to most of those named in the case and said they were upset at the allegations and at being publicly targeted by Block.

“This comes as a shock to them,” said Shinee, who added that he is still collecting information. “These are serious allegations they face.”