DISPATCHER ACCUSED OF WARNING SUSPECT

A Bexar County Sheriff's Department 911 dispatcher supervisor used
her position to look up the criminal histories of people in
connection with a marijuana-smuggling conspiracy she's accused of
participating in and to warn another suspect when law officers were
nearby, according to a court affidavit filed Monday.

The sheriff's office was unaware of the alleged activity by Barbara
Villarreal, a 14-year-employee who was arrested Saturday in an
undercover federal sting, according to Deputy Chief Andy Lozano.

Arrested by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
Villarreal learned Monday that she's facing five to 40 years in
prison on each of the two charges: conspiracy to possess with intent
to distribute marijuana, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Villarreal, 44; her boyfriend, Rogelio Cuevas, 41; and their
Elmendorf neighbor Santos Martinez, 56; are accused of taking
delivery of almost 800 pounds of marijuana supplied by undercover agents.

The drugs were delivered in an 18-wheeler Saturday to a restaurant
operated by Villarreal and Cuevas at Interstate 37 and South Loop
1604, according to a criminal complaint affidavit.

Villarreal, who has worked for the county since November 1992, was
released on a $50,000 unsecured bond. Cuevas was granted release on
$25,000 bond, and Martinez was ordered held without bond pending a
bail hearing within the next two weeks.

"Currently, she's on paid leave for 10 days," Lozano said of
Villarreal. After that, "we will start the procedure for termination."

The investigation by the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task
force, which consists of state, local and federal agents, initially
targeted Martinez over allegations that his home was used as a stash
house, according to a criminal complaint affidavit. An undercover
agent posed as a drug supplier, and authorities say Martinez later
introduced agents to Cuevas and Villarreal.

The affidavit said the group agreed to recruit drivers, that an
undercover officer supplied some potential recruits and that
Villarreal would check their records on the county computers.

The affidavit also alleges Villarreal would monitor police radio
traffic and warn Martinez when law enforcement was in the area of the
stash house.

Lozano said using county computers to search the National Crime
Information Center -- a database maintained by the FBI -- for
unofficial police business is illegal, a charge Villarreal is not facing.