March 9, 2001

DEA AGENT PREVIOUSLY CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION
NOW FACES TAX OFFENSES ALLEGED BY A GRAND JURY

 A federal grand jury that earlier this year charged a special agent with Drug Enforcement Administration with corruption has added new charges that the agent failed to tell the Internal Revenue Service about money he earned during his scheme, United States Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced today.
 Emilio Calatayud, 34, an agent assigned to the Los Angeles Field Division of the DEA, was named in a superseding indictment returned Thursday afternoon by a grand jury in Los Angeles. Previously in this case, Calatayud was charged with using his official position at the DEA to sell sensitive law enforcement information to a private investigation firms. In addition to those charges, Calatayud now faces three additional criminal tax charges related to his alleged failure to report income he received from the private investigation firm from 1995 through 1997.
 Calatayud is charged with five counts of wire fraud for scheming to defraud the DEA and the public of his honest services by using his public office and position to enrich himself. Calatayud is also charged with five counts of computer fraud for illegally using law enforcement computer systems and exceeding his authorized access to those systems to acquire information from various federal agencies. Additionally, Calatayud is charged with one count of bribery for receiving payments from the private investigations firm in exchange for conducting searches on individuals whom the private investigations firm was investigating.   The superseding indictment adds three counts to the previously alleged 11 charges. The new charges accuse Calatayud of subscribing to a false tax return for the years 1995, 1996, and 1997.
 An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime.  A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
 If convicted of all charges, Calatayud faces a maximum penalty under federal law of 74 years in federal prison, as well as fines that could run as high as $3.05 million.
 The case is the product of an ongoing investigation by the DEA's Office of Professional Responsibility in Washington, D.C. and the Los Angeles offices of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service. The prosecution is being jointly handled by the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles and the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington.

 Release No. 01-046
 

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