Pubdate: Thu, 09 May 2002
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2002 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author:  Todd Bensman, The Dallas Morning News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?118 (Perjury)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

FAKE-DRUGS INFORMANT AGREES TO DEAL

Testimony Considered Crucial To Determining Police Role In Arrests

A paid confidential Dallas police informant facing federal civil rights 
charges for his role in a series of fraudulent narcotics cases has agreed 
to a plea bargain, his lawyers said Wednesday.

Enrique Alonso, one of the Dallas Police Department's most highly paid 
informants, faced a 13-count indictment of conspiring to plant fake drugs 
on at least 13 Mexican laborers.

The deal signed with Justice Department prosecutors Wednesday afternoon 
means Mr. Alonso could receive as little as 41 months in prison on one 
civil-rights violation if his testimony is considered truthful, said Barry 
Sorrels, whose Dallas law firm is representing Mr. Alonso. He could have 
faced decades in prison if found guilty at trial.

Government officials and lawyers representing victims consider Mr. Alonso's 
testimony crucial to an eight-month FBI public corruption investigation 
seeking to determine whether police took part in a conspiracy to plant 
ground pool chalk on dozens of innocent people who were later sent to jail 
or deported for drug trafficking.

With Mr. Alonso's plea deal, prosecutors working with FBI investigators 
have the last of three deals for cooperation by informants who worked 
closely with Dallas narcotics officers on dozens of the questionable drug 
cases.

Enrique Alonso Mr. Alonso was the primary police informant in the series of 
drug busts, but his credibility is an issue because of conflicting public 
statements he has made, some defense attorneys involved in the case said.

An attorney for Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz, one of the two officers on paid 
administrative leave while the case is investigated, said Mr. Alonso has 
made too many differing statements to be believed.

An attorney for Officer Eddie Herrera, the other officer on leave, said 
Wednesday that he would have no immediate comment.

The two officers have denied criminal wrongdoing, suggesting in court 
papers that the informants conspired to plant the fake drugs.

Mr. Alonso has said he was unaware of any conspiracy to plant fake drugs. 
He also has said that the Police Department was corrupt and that officers 
deprived him of earnings, said Cpl. Delapaz's attorney, Bob Baskett.

"Because of all the different stories he has told in the past ... I find it 
hard to believe the government would give him much credibility," Mr. 
Baskett said of Mr. Alonso. "Anybody with any sense would question his 
credibility, grand jurors and jurors alike."

William Nellis, an attorney representing Jose Ruiz-Serrano, one of the two 
informants who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in July, said Mr. Alonso's 
testimony is crucial to answering whether the officers knew the drugs were 
fake or provided direction to Mr. Alonso.

"Alonso, for all I can tell, was the main man. He's the one who had the 
direct relationship with the cops," Mr. Nellis said.

Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill has dismissed more than 80 drug 
cases since laboratory tests determined last fall that the evidence seized 
in some busts was not an illegal substance. District attorney's office and 
police officials have declined to comment because of the ongoing FBI 
investigation.

Mr. Ruiz-Serrano and Reyes Roberto Rodriguez, the other informant who 
signed a government plea deal, worked for Mr. Alonso and shared part of the 
more than $250,000 paid by the Police Department for the drug busts, 
according to their attorneys and court documents. Neither man has directly 
implicated police officers, but they have provided information that their 
attorneys say points to police involvement.

Their allegations about police could not be independently verified, and 
government investigators have declined to comment. All three informants 
face expanded prison sentences if prosecutors determine that they lied to 
agents.

In their plea offer, government prosecutors left open the possibility that 
there were "other unindicted co-conspirators" who may have helped Mr. 
Alonso, Mr. Ruiz-Serrano and Mr. Rodriguez.

Mr. Ruiz-Serrano has told FBI investigators that police forged his 
signature on at least $24,000 worth of department pay vouchers, approved by 
supervisors, attesting that he received money he never got, Mr. Nellis said.

Mr. Rodriguez has told the FBI that sworn affidavits filed by officers 
contained details that the officers did not witness, suggesting that police 
fabricated information to get arrest warrants, said Karl Rupp, Mr. 
Rodriguez's attorney.

Mr. Ruiz-Serrano and Mr. Rodriguez can testify only that they rarely, if 
ever, directly communicated with officers because Mr. Alonso almost always 
served as their point of contact with police, their attorneys said.

Mr. Ruiz-Serrano "has never told me that Alonso told him the cops knew the 
drugs were fake," Mr. Nellis said Wednesday. "And I don't believe Alonso 
ever did tell him that."

Mr. Sorrels, the attorney for Mr. Alonso, declined to say what kind of 
information Mr. Alonso is prepared to provide.

"I will tell you that he has agreed to be completely honest and to debrief 
with the government and provide them with all the information he knows of 
at this point," Mr. Sorrels said.

[SIDEBAR]

Also Online

Fake drugs, real people: The evolution of a scandal. A News 8 timeline 
featuring in-depth information, facts and figures.
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