DRUG-CASE TIP LED TO DOWNFALL OF 4 S.D. COPS

It started as a routine marijuana-trafficking investigation that took
federal authorities from Ohio to Florida to Massachusetts. Ultimately, it
led to the downfall of four San Diego police officers.

Three have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges they operated
an elaborate scheme to profit from the sale of stolen Jacuzzis, sinks and
toilets. Dozens of unwitting fellow officers bought at least $100,000 worth
at a discounted price.

One officer, James C. Coleman, pleaded guilty to five felonies yesterday.
Another, Frank G. Almond, is out on bail. And the officer authorities have
identified as the central figure, Anthony Joseph Rodriguez, remained in
federal jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. His wife and father were also jailed.

A fourth officer, Detective Sherri D. Jackson, 38, was indicted on
suspicion of tipping off Rodriguez's ex-wife that federal agents were
tapping his phone. All have resigned from the department.

In a federal grand jury indictment unsealed yesterday, Rodriguez, 37, faces
charges that he, his wife, Janet Michelle Rodriguez, 31, and associates
around the country transported hundreds of pounds of marijuana in 1996 in a
secret compartment he built beneath a motor home.

It was a figure in that drug investigation, Kelly Moore, who tipped
authorities to Rodriguez's alleged stolen-property operation out of San
Diego in a plea bargain to save himself.

Moore, the ex-husband of Rodriguez's current wife, made a deal with
investigators to wear a recording device and share information about the
stolen property ring.

As a result, the FBI in San Diego launched a one-year probe that climaxed
Monday with the grand jury indictments, which officials touted yesterday as
an example of vigilance to rid law enforcement of bad apples.

"One cannot hide behind their badge or their position because along with
the federal investigative agencies here you will be investigated and if
appropriate you will be prosecuted," said U.S. Attorney Gregory Vega.

San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano said he is troubled by the actions of
the officers and regrets that the reputations of the "99.9 percent" of
dedicated officers may be tarnished by the actions of a few.

"It disturbs me quite a bit," the chief said. "It violates the trust of the
community and the department. . . . We have a zero-tolerance policy against
criminal misconduct, dishonesty, corruption and abuse of authority, and we
will take aggressive action."

In the indictments, Rodriguez and his father, Joseph Rodriguez, 59, of
Chicago Heights, Ill., are accused of paying two warehouse employees from
Builder's Plumbing and Heating Supply Co. in South Holland, Ill., with
cash, sexual favors and trips to Las Vegas in exchange for the stolen goods.

The employees, Javier Peralta, 38, of Steger, Ill., and manager Perfecto
Ochoa III, 44, of Chicago, were charged with conspiracy to transport stolen
goods.

Ochoa pleaded guilty yesterday, admitting in federal court in San Diego
that he stole plumbing supplies at the direction of Rodriguez and his
father, said U.S. Attorney Vega.

Authorities said Rodriguez recruited fellow traffic officers Almond, 47,
and Coleman, 36, to help him transport truckloads of the goods from Chicago
to their homes in Ramona and Lakeside and then sell it to dozens of
unwitting friends and colleagues at the department. Some items were sent
via overnight mail.

As an informant, Moore gave Rodriguez a two-page list of items he wanted to
purchase, and Rodriguez obliged with the help of Ochoa, the indictment said.

During the probe, authorities discovered that Rodriguez repeatedly used law
enforcement computers while on duty to check records on behalf of drug
traffickers to aid their organization, according to the indictment.

Coleman and Rodriguez were also charged with illegal possession of
firearms, including two silencers and two automatic weapons.

FBI agents armed with search warrants searched the officers' homes Feb. 17
and found building materials, documents, sinks, faucets, power tools and
other evidence, said Bill Gore, head of the San Diego FBI office. Gore said
investigators believe the ring has been operating since 1989.

The matter is a federal investigation because authorities believe stolen
property was transported across state lines.