Gang Sweep Informant’s Own Crimes Downplayed

As trials get underway for some of the more than 100 alleged gang members snared last spring in Orange County’s largest-ever police sweep, some of the most surprising revelations involve not the suspects but the informant at the heart of the case.

The informant, Jose G. Nolasco, 28, was charged by the state attorney general’s office with writing nearly $6,000 in bad checks and tested positive for cocaine and heroin use three times during the top-secret operation, according to court records.

Moreover, police overseeing the operation discovered he was dating an underage girl, prompting them to demand that he either end the relationship or marry the teenager--which he did.

Nolasco, who officials say made some 200 undercover drug, gun and stolen-car buys during the probe, also admitted on the stand last week that he secretly used drugs while working with police and overdosed on heroin on the eve of his testimony before the Orange County Grand Jury.

The admissions provide new ammunition to defense attorneys, though it’s unclear whether they weaken the government’s cases.

Prosecutors argue Nolasco’s actions won’t have much effect because all defendants are captured on hidden cameras selling heroin, cocaine, guns and stolen cars to Nolasco during a crackdown on a troubled Santa Ana neighborhood.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Ferguson said the videotape evidence is so compelling that he does not even need Nolasco to testify. Some legal experts agree.

“Absent entrapment, it doesn’t matter how bad a guy the informant is,” added criminal defense attorney Richard Schwartzberg.

Indeed, a defense attempt to attack Nolasco’s credibility failed this week when a jury convicted the first defendant to take a case to trial.

In the nine months since heavily armed police completed the high-profile raid, 80 defendants have pleaded guilty to felony charges. About 32 court cases are pending; 12 suspects have eluded arrest.

The strength of the videotape evidence has not eliminated questions about the deal law enforcement cut Nolasco. In exchange for his undercover work, prosecutors stopped Nolasco’s planned deportation as a convicted felon. They will recommend he receive a visa.

In addition, police spent some $56,000 on cash payments and other services for Nolasco, including a $7,500 surgery to remove cataracts and $10,000 in relocation costs for him, his wife and both their families.

“The broader question is, was it morally right to give someone . . . these benefits and let him back out on the streets in return for some hand-to-hand sellers of drugs,” said Orange County Assistant Public Defender Denise Gragg.

Questions about Nolasco’s conduct comes six years after an informant scandal plagued a similar gang sweep in Santa Ana. In that case, “Operation Roundup,” the informant stole money from police and misidentified several suspects whose cases were later dismissed.

Ferguson said authorities learned from those problems. But Nolasco’s criminal conduct was a sour reminder of the troubled 1994 sweep.

“It bothers us,” Ferguson said. “We’re always disturbed when an informant does something like that. It’s damaging.”

Ferguson said authorities discovered the bad-check allegations in March and relayed the case to the attorney general to avoid a conflict of interest. He said authorities learned of Nolasco’s drug use during the operation and decided they did not merit such drastic measures as canceling the operation or substituting in a different informant.

“In this case the judgment call was made that he was more valuable to us than what he had done. I believe that. And I would not do anything differently.”