LAWYER DENIES EX-AIDE KNEW ABOUT DRUG INVESTIGATION

Luis Cortinas, the embattled former administrative assistant to police
Chief Carlos Leon, said he never was tipped off that he was a
potential target in a drug investigation, Cortinas' lawyer said Thursday.

"If people think Leon took Luis aside and said, 'You're being
investigated,' that never happened," lawyer Dolph Quijano said.

Quijano also said Cortinas did not make comments to former police
officials last year that suggested he had been tipped off to an
investigation proposed by Assistant Chief George De Angelis.

"He can deny it all he wants," retired Pebble Hills Regional Cmdr.
Eddie Cavazos said.

Cavazos and retired Northeast Regional Cmdr. Gary Turner said in
separate interviews this week that Cortinas told them at a luncheon
last November that De Angelis was targeting him in a drug-related
investigation. Cavazos and Turner said Thursday that they stand by
their earlier comments.

De Angelis wrote a letter to Leon on Aug. 31, 1999, seeking an
investigation of Cortinas. Seven months later, the Police Department
started investigating Cortinas' alleged ties to drug traffickers,
according to police documents obtained by the El Paso Times.

The only police officials known to be aware last year of the
allegations about Cortinas were the department's two ranking officers,
Leon and De Angelis, according to the documents.

De Angelis said he didn't tell Cortinas of his suspicions. Leon
declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but said in general
terms that he would never reveal information to the subject of a
proposed or ongoing investigation.

The public became aware of the investigation into Cortinas last month,
when details of De Angelis' letter to Leon and later a synopsis of the
investigation itself were printed and broadcast by the El Paso Times
and the Channel 7-KVIA.

Assistant Police Chief Richard Wiles is leading a police investigation
into how the Times and KVIA obtained confidential documents, saying
their release compromised the investigation. Wiles has consistently
declined to comment on his ongoing leak investigation.

Leon said he could not comment on whether police are investigating the
new allegations that the investigation was compromised by someone
tipping off Cortinas last year.

But speaking in general terms, Leon said: "In any case, we
investigate. We'd be remiss if we didn't look into new information as
it developed."

The Cortinas allegations surfaced during a city administrative
investigation into a variety of charges from De Angelis that Leon had
acted improperly.

Leon was reprimanded last week by Mayor Carlos Ramirez for backdating
a document but cleared of other allegations. De Angelis hasn't
returned to work since that decision, taking sick and vacation time.

Cortinas was Leon's administrative assistant from January to September
1999. He was reassigned to the Pebble Hills Regional Command Center 12
days after De Angelis urged Leon to transfer Cortinas and to authorize
an investigation of Cortinas.

Leon has declined to say whether the transfer was related to the
allegations brought forward by De Angelis. Leon has also declined to
explain why he did not authorize an investigation of Cortinas until
seven months after De Angelis' initial request.

A 16-page synopsis of the police investigation that began April 7
highlighted a variety of accusations against Cortinas, including
charges that he provided sensitive police information to drug
traffickers.

Cortinas hasn't commented on the allegations, but Quijano has said
Cortinas is innocent. Cortinas has not been charged with any crime.

Ramirez has said the FBI is investigating Cortinas, but police no
longer have an active investigation. The FBI has declined to comment.

The mayor last week put Cortinas on paid administrative leave until
the FBI investigation is completed.

Through his lawyer, Cortinas blamed De Angelis for bringing false
allegations against him to discredit Leon.

"(Cortinas) feels like a casualty in De Angelis' political war against
Leon," Quijano said.

De Angelis said there is no such war.

"This is not political or personal. Period," De Angelis said. "For me,
this is about ethics, integrity and the proper administration and
management of the Police Department. I'm just trying to take a stand
for the good of the community and the safety of the officers."

Cavazos and Turner said in separate interviews that they have no
personal interest in the investigation.

"I'm moving on to the next part of my life," said Cavazos, who retired
earlier this year. "I have no ax to grind with Luis. We got along very
well."

Cavazos said he didn't discuss the comment with anyone until the Times
asked him about it.

"At the time, I didn't think much of it. If you know (Cortinas), you
know he says a lot of things for shock value. I thought he was trying
to be funny," he said.

Turner said he told De Angelis over the phone about the comment a week
or two after the luncheon.

"I said, 'Your buddy Cortinas is shooting his mouth about you getting
him fired on dope charges,' " he recalled telling De Angelis.

De Angelis said he told Leon about Turner's phone call that same day.
"I said I was concerned about my safety. He said, 'I guess I'll have
to talk to him,' " De Angelis recalled.

"There should have been an investigation into how (this leak)
happened," De Angelis said.

Leon has declined to comment on actions taken or not taken during the
Cortinas investigation.

Both Cavazos and Turner said no one, except the news media, ever asked
them about their conversation with Cortinas.

De Angelis also said he reported the incident when briefing detectives
investigating Cortinas in early April and to the city attorney's
office in his initial interview April 13.

When Ramirez released results of the city attorneys' administrative
investigation into De Angelis' allegations of misconduct by Leon, that
report did not mention De Angelis' suspicion that Cortinas had been
tipped off.