FAMILY CONFIRMS OFFICER IN FED VIDEO

Wearing his police blues and a service-issue Glock at his waist, a relaxed
and smooth-talking man identified by the FBI as San Antonio patrolman David
Anthony Morales told an agent posing as a drug smuggler that he didn't
trust his fellow officers.

According to the FBI surveillance videos played by prosecutors in court at
Morales' bond hearing Thursday, the man on the video was none too shy about
his role in the sham drug smuggling operation.

At one point, authorities allege that Morales appears in the videos as he
coaches the undercover agent on the finer points of renting a stash house.
During cross-examination, Morales' father, father-in-law and wife
identified the man in the videos as Morales.

"OK, you rent the place, you furnish it, you put TV, you don't even have to
put cable," the man is heard telling the agent who posed as a cocaine
trafficker. "I got a DVD player in there. Also, I would like to have you
guys purchase me an automatic weapon."

For the officer's father, Frank Morales, it appeared as a startling glance
at a side of the man he did not know.

"I was shocked and surprised when I saw it," the 70-year-old Morales said
on the witness stand. "He couldn't even shoot a deer. I think he was just
talking."

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo said he was troubled by the task of
reconciling the image of the cocky gunslinger in the videos with the loving
husband and dedicated officer described by his family. In the end, however,
the judge set Morales' bond at $100,000 -- the same amount he set for five
other SAPD officers accused in the sting.

"The talk (on the video) is extremely serious in this case. However, my
inclination is that this was talking out of his character," Primomo said.

Less than three hours later, Morales emerged from the courthouse in
sandals, arm-in-arm with his wife, after posting bond. They shunned
questions and cameras.

He was the last of eight area law officers to be released on bond since a
dozen arrests last week in a massive corruption scandal that has repelled
the rank and file and cast the largest shadow over the department in decades.

As part of an ongoing purge, Police Chief Al Philippus placed patrolman
Alfred Valdes, also accused in the sting, on temporary suspension without
pay during a small, 10-minute meeting Thursday.

Philippus continued legal research into how to serve similar papers to Sgt.
Conrad Fragozo and officer Patrick Bowron, who were denied bond after
prosecutors dubbed them ringleaders.

Two other accused officers, Arthur Gutierrez and Peter Saenz, have quit.
They are out on bond.

On Wednesday, Philippus suspended accused officers Manuel Cedillo and
Lawrence Bustos without pay. Morales' attorney, Van Hilley, said the
officer anticipates Philippus will soon summon him to police headquarters
for the same purpose.

At the center of the government's case is a conspiracy among five police
patrol officers, a police sergeant and his civilian uncle.

Although prosecutors do not link Morales to that conspiracy, they contend
he worked closely with the same undercover agent known as "Ricardo," who
arranged for the officers to protect drug shipments, said Daryl Fields,
spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office here.

Among those whose testimony helped sway the release of Morales on Thursday
was his wife, Lori, who also is a police officer. She said the man she saw
in the videos was an aberration.

"I wish I could just take my heart out and show everybody everything that I
know about him," she said.