DALLAS (AP) _ A decorated undercover narcotics officer has been indicted on charges of civil rights violations and making false statements in connection with a fake drug scheme that landed dozens of innocent people in jail, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz, charged with five counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of making false statements to federal officials, was the first police officer to be indicted in the law enforcement scandal that drew national attention.
Delapaz, who faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted, was free on a personal recognizance bond.
He has been on paid administrative leave since January 2002, when the FBI began investigating how paid confidential informants were able to set up dozens of innocent people _ mostly Mexican immigrants _ on charges involving drugs that later turned out to be ground gypsum or some other legal substance.
The fake drugs, which appeared to be cocaine or methampheatamines, were allegedly planted on the victims in investigations run by Delapaz and Officer Eddie Herrera, who is also on paid leave.
Drug charges against more than 80 victims were later dismissed by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said three former informants previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate civil rights and are cooperating with the FBI investigation.
Dallas Police Department officials said Delapaz will remain on paid leave until the internal affairs division finishes its investigation.
Delapaz, through his wife who also is a Dallas police officer, declined to comment to The Dallas Morning News. A telephone message left by The Associated Press with attorney Bob Baskett was not returned.
Baskett has said his client had done nothing wrong.
Lori Bailey, spokeswoman for the FBI in Dallas, said the investigation was continuing but declined to provide details, citing standard government rules that prohibit discussion about pending investigations.
Don Tittle, an attorney representing 15 victims in a civil lawsuit against the city and police department, told The Dallas Morning News that he was not disappointed that the investigation of Cpl. Delapaz had produced misdemeanor charges carrying possible sentences far less than those many of his clients had faced.
“The fact that this guy didn’t get charged with actually conspiring with informants to set people up doesn’t mean he’s not guilty of violating individuals civil rights,” Tittle said. “And if he violated individuals’ civil rights and they later went to jail or prison as a direct result then it seems to me he’s every bit as guilty as the informants.”