Deputy Under Scrutiny Is Brother of Raided House Owner

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who has been under investigation for allegedly selling drugs to County Jail inmates is the brother of a man who owns two suspected Pacoima drug “rock houses” raided by police, sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

Ely Bryant, 31, who has worked at County Jail for about three years, became the subject of an internal Sheriff’s Department investigation last year after two informants told investigators that Bryant had sold or plotted to sell drugs to County Jail inmates, according to an affidavit filed in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

One of the informants said Bryant sold drugs supplied by his brother, Jeffrey Bryant, according to the affidavit. Jeffrey Bryant is the owner of a suspected “rock house” at 13037 Louvre St. at which Los Angeles police unveiled a controversial new motorized battering ram during a drug raid Feb. 6.

A “rock house” is a fortified dwelling generally holding armed men who sell drugs through a slot in the door.

Jeffrey Bryant is facing trial on a charge of possession of cocaine for sale in connection with a June, 1984, raid by sheriff’s narcotics officers on a second suspected “rock house” he owns at 13031 Louvre St., sheriff’s officials said.

According to Capt. Bill Hinkle, the allegations against Ely Bryant surfaced during the June investigation by sheriff’s narcotics officers. He was stripped of his peace officer authority and placed in a paid administrative position pending the outcome of an ongoing internal investigation, Hinkle said.

No departmental or criminal charges have been filed against Ely Bryant as a result of the narcotics or internal investigations, Hinkle said.

The allegations against Ely Bryant are contained in an affidavit filed last June in support of a warrant to search a house he rents at 10731 De Haven Ave. in Pacoima. Investigators also searched his 1983 BMW automobile and a locker at County Jail.

As part of the same investigation, sheriff’s narcotics officers also raided the house owned by Jeffrey Bryant at 13031 Louvre St.

The affidavit, filed by a sheriff’s investigator to get court permission for the June, 1984, raid, said that a County Jail inmate told investigators that Ely Bryant and his brothers, Jeffrey and Stanley, were narcotic dealers in the Pacoima area.

According to the affidavit, the inmate, described as a “reliable” informant used by several other Los Angeles law-enforcement agencies, told investigators he was a “boyhood friend” of Ely Bryant. The unidentified informant claimed to have made narcotics deals with the deputy and his brothers and said that Ely Bryant used marijuana and cocaine and sold narcotics, the affidavit said.

Special Privileges Claimed

The informant said that while he was in jail, Ely Bryant gave him special food and phone call privileges and tried to enlist his help selling drugs in jail at $1,500 an ounce, the affidavit said.

The same informant told investigators that in March, 1984, he saw Ely, Jeffrey and Stanley Bryant cut up a half-pound of cocaine at Jeffrey Bryant’s home at 13031 Louvre St.

At other times, he said, he saw heroin being sold from the residence by Jeffrey and Stanley Bryant, the affidavit said. The informant also said he saw Ely Bryant take two one-eighth ounce bags of cocaine, the affidavit said.

The deputy’s brothers “Jeff and Stanley Bryant are considered large-scale coke dealers in Pacoima . . . ,” the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, attempts to catch the deputy by arranging a controlled buy were thwarted when the informant was released from jail.

Second Informant

A second informant, also an unidentified inmate in County Jail, said he saw two jail inmates give Ely Bryant money, the affidavit said. The informant said that while he was in jail, he had purchased drugs from the inmates he had seen giving money to Ely Bryant, according to the affidavit.

“Jeff supplies his friends in jail through his brother,” the affidavit quotes the second informant as saying.

The warrant does not state the circumstances under which the informants gave the information to investigators and does not identify them.

Got Injunction

Ely Bryant has secured a preliminary injunction prohibiting Sheriff’s Department investigators from questioning him about the allegations. Hearing on the injunction is set for March 13, Hinkle said.

None of the Bryant brothers could be reached for comment Thursday.

Los Angeles police Capt. Noel Cunningham said that although Jeffrey Bryant owns the house raided Feb. 6 by Los Angeles police, Jeffrey Bryant was not a target of the raid. The home’s only occupants at the time of the raid were two women and three small children, police said. Only a small quantity of cocaine was found, police said.

Antonio Johnson, who rents the house from Jeffrey Bryant, and lives there with his wife and her 5-year-old son, was arrested on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale. No charges have been filed against him.

His wife, Linda Brown Johnson, was arrested on suspicion of child endangering, but prosecutors said there is insufficient evidence to file charges.