ACCUSATIONS OF CRONYISM PLAGUE CUSTOMS SERVICE

Government: A Senator Intends To Use The Case Of A Fatal Car Crash
Involving An Agent To Examine Issues Of Discipline. No Action Is Taken On
Many Complaints, One Study Shows.

WASHINGTON--A traffic accident in the Arizona desert has rekindled
concerns that the agency that protects America's borders can't
discipline its own people, even as complaints of serious wrongdoing
soar.

The 1998 accident occurred when a U.S. Customs Service agent on a
nonemergency assignment crashed into a tractor trailer he was trying
to pass while speeding at least 20 mph above the limit on a dirt road
in his government car. The collision killed another customs agent.

The agent behind the wheel had "a documented history of reckless and
aggressive driving" but returned to work initially with no punishment,
after an official Customs Service investigation concluded he wasn't at
fault.

Later, officials hurriedly gave him a letter of reprimand that
foreclosed further discipline after investigators began to question
the original account of the accident, interviews and documents show.

Two later investigations reversed the original findings and concluded
that the driver, Allan Sperling, had operated his vehicle in an unsafe
manner that "significantly contributed" to the death of agent Gary
Friedli.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said he
intends to use the Arizona accident to reexamine whether the Customs
Service has made enough progress on discipline.

"I plan to look into this case and into the broader questions it
raises . . . whether customs agents are adequately investigated for
allegations of wrongdoing in the course of duty and whether they're
adequately disciplined when wrongdoing is substantiated," Grassley
said.

The Customs Service has long been the subject of allegations of
cronyism and lax discipline among its 19,000 employees.

A 1999 Treasury Department review of nearly 400 disciplinary cases
inside the Customs Service in the previous two years concluded that
many were bungled so that wayward agents were neither disciplined nor
prosecuted.

Former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly promised to
strengthen discipline and accountability when he took over the service
three years ago and made changes to its internal affairs unit. But
Kelly acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press that the
problems weren't solved before he stepped down in January.

"It's not easy to change a culture when you're a political appointee,"
Kelly said.

The 1999 investigative report quoted one federal prosecutor as saying
the Customs Service was "dysfunctional and almost unwilling to enforce
criminal laws" broken by its own workers. The report cited numerous
examples of mishandled inquiries: * A case was not thoroughly pursued
and subsequently closed, even after law enforcement sources provided
information that a customs employee was involved with individuals
suspected of money laundering, gun running and armored car robberies.

* An inspector who admitted placing marijuana in a passenger's luggage
was only admonished by a supervisor, and over the next four years,
received seven cash awards and one promotion.

* A supervisor was placed in charge of an investigation of one of his
employees who left the scene of an accident involving a government
vehicle--even though both had been drinking together before the accident.

A Senate Finance Committee review found that the number of complaints
of serious wrongdoing by customs employees increased by more than 200%
from 1996 to 1998. During the same period, two-thirds of the
complaints referred to management by internal investigators had no
record of action being taken.

The questions surrounding the Customs Service's original handling of
the car crash near Douglas, Ariz., have come to light in recent months
as the widow of the agent who died and members of Congress pressed for
more information.

"I want to make sure there's finally some responsibility, some
accountability," said the widow, customs agent Dorene Kulpa-Friedli.
"There's no such thing as closure."

The two internal investigations that reversed the original findings
found that Sperling, the driver, was speeding and had "a documented
history of reckless and aggressive driving," including five previous
accidents.

They also concluded that Sperling's supervisors in Arizona had given
misleading statements to customs agents probing the accident.

The customs internal investigator who handled the first inquiry said
customs personnel in the Douglas office did not cooperate fully and he
also felt pressure from headquarters to complete the
investigation.

Sperling told investigators he was traveling only 25 mph when he
decided to pass the truck and did not see the truck's left turn
signal, which investigators concluded "more likely than not" was blinking.