GARY POLICE OFFICER MIGHT FACE DEATH PENALTY IN DRUG-RING INDICTMENT

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (Associated Press) -- A Gary police officer who is
accused of killing a drug dealer from whom he stole cocaine while in
uniform could face the death penalty along with three of his accomplices.

Officer James Ervin is among 10 men, including another Gary police officer,
charged in a 36-count indictment by a federal grand jury.

The 10 are charged with running a drug organization that distributed
cocaine and heroin from January 1997 to December 1999, U.S. Attorney David
Capp announced Monday. The indictment returned late Friday replaces earlier
charges against the men.

The Justice Department will decide whether to seek the death penalty
against Ervin, alleged drug kingpin Jay Zambrana, Gabriel Benavides, who is
believed to be in Mexico, and Luis Perez of Gary.

Capp said those four could face the death penalty because of their alleged
involvement in the murders of Gil Nevarez and Raul Hurtado of suburban
Chicago on Nov. 19, 1998.

Drug Enforcement Agency agent Robert Negro testified May 11 at a detention
hearing for Ervin that the murders were conducted under the orders of
Zambrana, that owner of Ultimate Motor Sales in Gary, and that Perez lured
Nevarez and Hurtado to his home. The plot was to steal cocaine from them
because there was a scarcity of drugs at the time, Negro said.

Ervin is accused of making a traffic stop outside Perez's home with his
squad car so he could steal the 9 kilograms of cocaine. Ervin, who was on a
dinner break at the time, then handcuffed Nevarez and Hurtado, drove them
in his squad car to a club where, according to Negro's testimony, Ervin
killed Nevarez with an extension cord in a hallway while Benavides
strangled Hurtado.

The four aren't actually charged with murder, but murder is listed as a
sentencing enhancement on charges of drug conspiracy possession with intent
to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Capp said this is typically
the way such federal cases are handled because murder is usually a
state-prosecuted crime.

Capp said his office would file a report to the Justice Department on
whether to seek the death penalty. If the death sentence is sought, a death
penalty review committee in Washington will review the request.

"There is frequently a lot of back-and-forth between them and us," Capp
said. "Then they make a recommendation to the attorney general, who has the
final call."

It could take more than three months before the case reaches Attorney
General John Ashcroft, Capp said.

Ervin's defense attorney, Charles Graddick, could not be reached for
comment Monday, but during a May hearing he said Ervin had a spotless
record as an officer and that member's of Zambrana's drug organization were
trying to place the blame on a police officer.

Negro of the DEA testified in May that Ervin began working for Zambrana in
1997 by identifying undercover federal agents who were monitoring the gang.
He is also accused of dumping the bodies of Nevarez and Hurtado in the
Chicago neighborhood where he grew up.

Zambrana, who was released from prison in 1995 after serving 10 years on
drug charges, faces 25 charges in the indictment released Monday.

Luis Roman Jr., another Gary police officer, faces one charge of conspiracy
to distribute cocaine and heroin and three money laundering charges, but
the charges are not related to any murders. He faces up to 60 years in
prison and $5.25 million in fines. An earlier charge of maintaining a house
for the purpose of distributing marijuana was dropped.

Ervin, Zambrana, Perez and four others charged are in federal custody,
while Roman has been released on bond. Benavides and another person named
in the indictment remain at large.

The indictment comes less than a week after the Gary Police Department's
internal affairs division began distributing brochures informing people
what to do if they suspect a police officer of impropriety or of breaking
the law.

Police Chief John Roby said he did not believe any widespread problems
existed in the 260-officer department.

"But if there's something out there, we'd like to know about it," he said.

He has started termination proceedings against Roman and plans to begin
proceedings now against Ervin.