LAPD LINKS EX-DEPUTIY CHIEF TO COCAINE RING

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A confidential police department report has found that a
retired deputy chief for several years helped launder money from his son's
sprawling cocaine ring, a newspaper reported Friday.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the police department probe found that
Deputy Chief Maurice Moore, who retired earlier this year, allegedly
retrieved, delivered, stored and laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars
in illicit profits. Moore allegedly acted on behalf of his son, who ran the
drug operation from federal prison, according to the LAPD's internal
investigation.

Moore, 67, denied any wrongdoing through his attorney.

Investigators based their findings on real estate and escrow documents,
court bond papers, city financial disclosure forms, statements from FBI
informants and interviews with people connected with the drug ring, the
police report said.

Interim Police Chief Martin Pomeroy has requested more analysis before
deciding whether to uphold six internal department allegations against
Moore, a police spokesman said.

Some of the allegations in the report, if true, would constitute crimes,
but the statute of limitations for many of them has passed.

The FBI in December 1999 sent a letter to then-Chief Bernard C. Parks
telling him about their agents' suspicions that Maurice Moore was involved
in a major drug ring.

Chief Parks received the report in the midst of the Rampart corruption
scandal, which was sparked by a rogue police officer who told of
unjustified shootings, beatings, evidence planting and drug dealing by
other officers.

Despite the FBI's concerns, Parks allowed the deputy to help direct the
department's official inquiry into the Rampart scandal.