2 Deputies Balk in Drug Scandal, Are Suspended : Investigation: The sheriff’s narcotics officers reportedly refused to answer questions about the money-skimming probe without having an attorney present.

Two more Los Angeles County sheriff’s narcotics officers have been suspended after balking at questions posed by investigators probing a widening money-skimming scandal, an attorney for the two deputies and sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

The officers were abruptly relieved of duty last Friday after refusing to answer questions about the alleged theft of seized drug money until their attorney could be present, said Richard Shinee, chief counsel for the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

Shinee, who refused to identify the deputies, claimed the suspensions violated the rights of the deputies and were part of a “squeeze play” by sheriff’s officials to try to pressure narcotics officers into cooperating with the money-skimming investigation.

The scandal, which has already led to the indictment of 10 veteran officers and the suspension of eight others, has shaken the nation’s largest sheriff’s department and has spotlighted theft allegations against members of the elite narcotics squads that once handled major drug investigations.

But Shinee said he is unaware of any evidence that the two newly suspended officers have been involved in any thefts. Instead, he said the deputies were questioned merely in an attempt to intimidate them and other officers into cooperating with investigatators.

“My understanding is that these deputies were fully willing to participate in interviews, but with counsel present to ensure that their rights are protected,” Shinee said. “And for simply attempting to secure that right, they were relieved of duty.”

Sheriff’s officials also refused to identify the two deputies.

“They were relieved because they chose not to talk to us as potential witnesses,” said Undersheriff Robert Edmonds, who claimed the men disobeyed a direct order to answer questions.

Asked if the officers were the targets of any theft allegations themselves, Edmonds said, “I don’t want to characterize that any further except to say they were potential witnesses.”

Shinee, however, said he had listened to a tape-recording of the interview with one suspended deputy and disputed Edmonds’ contention that the men were ordered to respond directly to questions. Shinee said the deputy was asked to respond voluntarily and asked for his attorney only after being told that theft allegations had been leveled against his entire crew.

“Upon being advised that he was a possible suspect, he invoked his rights,” Shinee said.

The Times learned that the two deputies, who average nearly 20 years in the department, were among the estimated 40 officers on four teams investigating major narcotics cases. The crews were disbanded last fall after it was disclosed that some narcotics officers were accused of stealing drug money confiscated from narcotics traffickers and money launderers.

A grand jury indictment alleges that the members of one major narcotics crew alone had stolen more than $1.4 million during an 18-month period.

All nine members of that crew plus another deputy who worked on another major violators team were indicted last month on charges of conspiracy, theft and income tax violations.

While Sgt. Robert R. Sobel pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, the remaining nine officers and the wife of one deputy--who was also indicted--pleaded not guilty.

In an affidavit filed by the federal government and made public last week, investigators from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service said that officers from three of the four narcotics investigation crews were involved in taking drug money and laundering the stolen cash or were aware of that activity.

The fourth team was not cited in the federal affidavit. However, sources said the two deputies relieved of duty last weekend were assigned to that last crew before the teams were dismantled.

The new suspensions are the first in several months and come amid more disclosures about the massive investigation that began in October, 1988, and escalated last year after the FBI and IRS joined the probe.

According to the first of 57 search warrants and seizure documents unsealed this week, federal agents used a videotaped sting, wiretaps, information from drug dealers, tips from fellow deputies, financial records, interviews and the cooperation of Sobel to build their case against the suspected deputies.

In a sweep last fall of homes and businesses owned by the indicted officers, sheriff’s investigators and federal agents reported seizing tens of thousands of dollars in cash from private safes, bedroom drawers, briefcases and on tables.

As much as $13,280 was found in one deputy’s home, the search warrants said. Another $13,069 was discovered in another home and $11,706 in cash was found on a kitchen counter, in bedroom drawers and in a safe at another deputy’s home, the warrants said. Some of that money, federal investigators claimed, came from stolen drug cash or was part of money that had been taken during an undercover FBI sting last August against the deputies.