Ex-DEA Agent Still Hunted in L.A. : Two Former Colleagues Plead Not Guilty to Drug Charges

As a manhunt continued for a former U.S. drug agent now wanted on charges of conspiring to deal cocaine and heroin, two of his former colleagues pleaded not guilty Thursday to allegations that they conspired with him in setting up a drug network that stretched from Los Angeles to New York.

The hunt for Darnell Garcia, 42, a former agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, continued to focus on the Los Angeles area despite disclosure from law enforcement sources that at least one previously reported local sighting of Garcia was erroneous.

Los Angeles police sources said that a widely circulated report attributed to the DEA and the U.S. attorney’s office last month alleging that Garcia had walked into the Police Department’s North Hollywood station asking for backup in a search for a suspect in a drug investigation was false.

A Los Angeles police officer who had originally reported the incident confused Garcia with another DEA agent named Rodrigo who actually made a valid request for such assistance Oct. 12, one source said.

Despite that false report, police said they believe they do have a “pretty solid” identification by a North Hollywood patrol officer of Garcia allegedly parked in a blue Ford at the intersection of Lankershim and Victory boulevards Jan. 6.

Dozens of Reported Sightings

Federal and local officials would not speculate Thursday on whether Garcia, originally reported to be planning to flee the area for Spain or Mexico, is in the Los Angeles area, but publicity surrounding his case touched off dozens of reported sightings throughout the city.

According to one law enforcement source who requested anonymity, the DEA received one tip early in the week that Garcia was wandering around the World Trade Center, where the DEA is headquartered in downtown Los Angeles.

Another tip was received by both the FBI and the Los Angeles district attorney’s office from a Studio City woman who said she saw Garcia on Tuesday night parked across the street from a liquor store “in an old Ford Falcon with no chrome.”

The woman said she was afraid that Garcia was trying to kill her because “his eyes bulged out looking at me.” She was assured by at least one official that if Garcia was in the area, he was probably looking for someone else.

“Just driving down the street today, I swore I saw Garcia 10 times,” said John M. Zienter, head of the DEA in Los Angeles. “It’s amazing how many people he resembles. And I’ve been trained for this.”

The DEA and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service posted a $20,000 reward Wednesday for information leading to the capture of Garcia, who was charged in a 32-count federal indictment Wednesday with conspiring to deal heroin and hundreds of pounds of cocaine. Garcia, a former karate champion, was also accused of stealing heroin from the DEA’s evidence vault in Los Angeles in 1984.

Also charged in the case are two other ex-DEA agents, John Anthony Jackson, 39, of Claremont and Wayne Countryman, 45, of Walnut. Both pleaded not guilty Thursday to the drug conspiracy charge, and Jackson pleaded not guilty to stealing five pounds of heroin from DEA custody in 1984 and 1985.

Barbara Jackson, the wife of the ex-agent, also pleaded not guilty Thursday to four charges of income tax evasion. A fifth defendant in the case, Sherman Lair, 38, of Alta Loma, also pleaded not guilty to a charge of participating in the alleged drug conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Terry A. Hatter Jr., who had imposed a gag order on lawyers and government officials, rescinded the order Thursday after an appeal by The Times and other media. Hatter warned, however, that he might reinstate his order if the news media do not use “good judgement” in covering the case closer to an actual trial date.