Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2001
Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright: 2001 San Antonio Express-News
Contact:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/384
Author: Maro Robbins, Express-News Staff Writer
Note: News researchers Carolyn Edds and Michael Knoop contributed to this 
report.

CASE HINTS AT GENESIS OF STING

Freed from detention, one accused law enforcement officer after another 
waded into cold drizzle and clustered reporters last week while another 
defendant slipped, almost unnoticed, out the courthouse back door.

Albert Mata, in this and other ways, quietly stood apart from the others 
named in federal indictments that, unsealed on March 22, jump-started San 
Antonio's largest police misconduct case in more than 20 years.

Described by his lawyer as a pawn in the FBI's attempt to snare his 
roommate - a police officer and one of the probe's early targets - Mata, 
according to the indictments, was the first to fall into the FBI's web.

Mata's case illuminates the undercover probe's early days and tactics, 
including two informants - in his case, a stripper and a mysterious figure 
known as "Frank."

Like all but one of the dozen men arrested, Mata is accused of attempting 
to distribute what they thought was cocaine, supplied by the FBI as part of 
a sting initiated to detect crooked cops.

But while everyone else charged was a law officer or, in one instance, an 
accused officer's uncle, Mata worked as a copy machine repairman and knew 
none of the others indicted, according to his lawyer, Jesse Rivera.

Rivera says authorities pursued the unsuspecting 39-year-old, hoping he 
would lure his roommate, the San Antonio police officer, into bogus drug 
deals that could be caught on film.

Apparently unlike later efforts, which the government alleges led to 
several officers being covertly recorded guarding and escorting fake 
cocaine - the videotaped highlights of which were shown in federal court 
last week - the 1998 sting flopped, Rivera said.

Aimed at the officer, the early corruption probe yielded only Mata, a 
private citizen with a wife, two children and no prior convictions, the 
defense lawyer said.

"I believe my guy was a pawn in the FBI's sting operation and is more of a 
victim than he is a criminal," said Rivera, who characterized the 1998 
sting as a heavy-handed waste of investigative resources.

During a series of hard-fought detention hearings last week, federal 
prosecutors displayed detailed evidence against eight defendants - 
particularly against six police officers and the uncle, charged together in 
a 1999 conspiracy case that seems the centerpiece of the FBI's work.

The videos showed men identified by the government as police officers 
talking about guarding the bundles they believed held cocaine.

Seemingly blissfully unaware of the FBI sting, the men then counted cash 
payments, tipped back beers, admired a pistol with a laser sight and, in 
one case, talked about killing anyone - except law enforcement - who would 
try to take the drugs.

In all, prosecutors say they have about 250 videotapes plus recorded phone 
conversations. But, thus far, they have revealed no evidence against Mata.

Instead, they remained silent while a federal magistrate set bond for Mata 
as well as another police officer, a sheriff's deputy and a university 
investigator - all of whom are charged separately.

Asked about the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Counts, the lead 
prosecutor, declined to discuss details, yet he acknowledged Mata was not 
the FBI's ultimate target and that he played a lesser role.

"But he's a lesser participant who transported what he thought was multiple 
kilos of cocaine more than once," Counts said. "Crime is crime, so he has 
to face the court."

The genesis of the 31/2-year investigation remains shrouded under vague 
statements made by authorities during an initial news conference and later 
repeated in interviews and court documents.

Officials said only this much: The probe began in mid-1997 when 
confidential informants warned the FBI that San Antonio Police Department 
officers would aid criminals for money.

For Albert Mata, the momentum started to build in April 1997. On April 14, 
he and his second wife filed for divorce, ending a three-year marriage. 
Mata moved in with a longtime buddy, a San Antonio police officer whom 
defense lawyer Rivera declined to identify. He stayed there about a year.

In early 1998, a stripper introduced Mata to a male friend of hers.

"All I know is the guy's name was Frank," Rivera said.

Frank asked Mata twice to pick up a duffel bag from the airport and to 
deliver it to a hotel room, the lawyer said. The bag apparently contained 
sham cocaine. The meeting, caught on a hidden camera in the room, had been 
arranged by FBI agents.

"Once they had him (Mata) on tape, they felt they could use that leverage 
to get his roommate," Rivera said.

Further attempts to bring the roommate officer into the ring faltered, 
Rivera said, leaving Mata entangled in a corruption probe that came 
crashing down on him three years later.

Prosecutor Counts declined comment but has said that some police officers 
were approached unsuccessfully during the course of the sting.

Reached by phone, the police officer Mata once lived with refused to answer 
questions related to his former roommate.

"I got nothing to say about that," he said, then quickly hung up.

Mata's case, according to a cryptic letter filed in court by prosecutors, 
is linked to that of a man named Frank Alfred Tavitas, a twice-convicted 
drug dealer who managed to stay out of prison the second time he was caught.

Counts, the prosecutor, refused to describe the link between Tavitas and 
Mata, except to say that Tavitas will likely be a crucial witness.

San Antonio's federal court records show that on April 10, 1997, Tavitas 
pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics.

Federal agents had arrested him at his house, where agents reported finding 
260 grams, or about a half-pound, of cocaine.

It was Tavitas' second drug conspiracy conviction. But U.S. District Judge 
Edward C. Prado, ignoring a stiffer penalty outlined in sentencing 
guidelines, gave Tavitas probation. His co-defendant received more than 
three years in prison.

Court records note that prosecutors filed several sealed motions and 
documents concerning Tavitas. The secret filings make legal observers 
speculate Tavitas likely earned a lighter-than-normal sentence by 
cooperating with the government.

Reached by phone at his home outside Texas, Tavitas responded immediately 
when asked how he knew Mata.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss anything," he said. "I cannot answer any 
questions."

San Antonio lawyer Demetrio Duarte Jr. represented Tavitas' co-defendant, a 
South Texas man named Robert Raymond Garza.

Duarte remembers the case this way: Garza was charged with picking up a 
suitcase of cocaine from the airport and delivering it to Tavitas' home.

Duarte also recalls the case having one unusual aspect. Federal narcotics 
cases routinely involve the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"That was an FBI case. It should have been DEA but it was FBI. They don't 
do as much drug work," he said. "It's very rare for them to come in."

Tavitas was defended by local lawyer Van Hilley, who said he does not 
recall the details of the 1997 case nor how it ended. Hilley last week was 
hired to defend David Anthony Morales, one of the police officers accused 
of transporting bogus cocaine.

Like lawyers for most of the other defendants, Hilley declined to discuss 
how the officers fell under FBI scrutiny.

News researchers Carolyn Edds and Michael Knoop contributed to this report.
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