Officer Pleads Guilty in Drug Case : Scandal: A sheriff’s sergeant admits stealing narcotics money and agrees to testify against his former deputies.

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant, who has become the central figure in a money-skimming scandal involving an elite squad of narcotics officers, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to conspiracy and tax fraud charges and agreed to testify against his former deputies.

Sgt. Robert R. Sobel, 45, who once commanded the crew of veteran deputies--all of whom have been indicted--tersely admitted in open court that he had helped steal more than $1.4 million from suspected drug traffickers and money launderers over the last two years.

Before accepting Sobel’s guilty pleas to one count each of conspiracy and filing a false tax return, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie asked the 19-year veteran if he and his fellow sheriff’s officers had skimmed the money during drug raids and then laundered the cash to hide it from authorities.

“Was there a general agreement among members of this crew that this be done?” Rafeedie asked Sobel.

“Yes, sir,” the sergeant replied.

Rafeedie then asked Sobel if the money was stolen randomly by individual deputies or if there was a plot among the team members to let the chief investigator on a drug case first take the money.

“It was the chief investigator,” Sobel told the judge.

“So, whoever handled the investigation would seize money and distribute it later to crew members?” Rafeedie asked.

“That’s correct,” Sobel said.

The statements were the first public admission by any narcotics officer that money was taken in a scandal that has shaken the nation’s largest sheriff’s department.

Earlier this week, nine indicted deputies--including all eight members of Sobel’s now-disbanded crew--pleaded not guilty to similar charges that they stole money from drug traffickers and money launderers after first detaining or arresting them.

One deputy’s wife was also indicted and pleaded not guilty to charges that she helped conceal the stolen drug money in various bank accounts.

After Sobel’s court appearance, attorneys for the indicted deputies vehemently denied the allegations and attacked his credibility.

“It would seem that Mr. Sobel is implicating innocent deputies just to save himself,” said Jay Lichtman, attorney for Deputy Ronald E. Daub. “From the point of view of my client, that is exactly what has occurred.”

Sobel’s testimony is expected to play a major role in the prosecution’s case when the trial begins in July.

“His testimony will be very significant,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey C. Eglash, one of the government prosecutors in the case.

During most of his 30-minute court hearing, Sobel stood with his attorney, keeping his left hand in his coat pocket and his other arm leaning against a podium. The Westminster resident showed little emotion as he listened intently to the judge and acknowledged that he had signed a plea-bargain agreement with federal prosecutors on Nov. 1, two months after he and his fellow officers were first suspended in the money-skimming probe.

Since then, Sobel has been cooperating fully with prosecutors and has moved to an undisclosed location--protected by FBI agents and the Sheriff’s Department--as a security measure, according to his attorney, Mark Beck.

Beck told reporters that while his client outranked the other indicted officers, Sobel was only a “mid-level” participant in the alleged money-skimming scheme. “He’s not shirking his responsibility,” Beck said. ‘He’s certainly not the mastermind.”

Nicknamed “El Diablo” for his hard-charging style as a narcotics officer, Sobel had long been regarded as a key figure in the months-long federal probe.

Rafeedie scheduled a Sept. 7 sentencing date for Sobel, who agreed Wednesday to pay the government $28,000 and surrender a 31-foot sloop valued at $36,000 that he allegedly purchased with drug money. He also forfeited a stock account worth $20,000 and a piano and furniture valued at $17,500 because they were purchased with stolen cash.

As part of his plea bargain, five theft charges against Sobel were dismissed. He was facing a maximum of 58 years in prison but now the most he can receive is an eight-year sentence. Even that could be drastically reduced under the plea bargain.

Asked if his client could merely receive probation, Beck replied: “That’s an option. That’s definitely a possibility.”

As he left the courtroom, accompanied by a plainclothes deputy sheriff, Sobel refused to talk to reporters. He later issued a written statement of apology, adding that he has “accepted responsibility for my actions while assigned to the Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau.”

“My cooperation in this investigation is for personal reasons which involve my family,” he added.

Beck told reporters that in addition to assisting prosecutors in the case against the indicted deputies, Sobel is also cooperating in an ongoing investigation of eight other suspended deputies. Beck, however, refused to say whether his client has testified before the federal grand jury.