Alatorre Accused in Court Case

A bitter custody case took a serious turn for Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre on Thursday when he was accused in court papers of abusing cocaine and improperly pulling funds from the estate of a young girl who has been in the Alatorres’ care for two years.

The allegations--strongly denied by the Alatorres’ attorney--are contained in a motion to strip the couple of their legal guardianship of the 9-year-old girl, who is the niece of the councilman’s wife.

The motion was brought by the girl’s father, Henry Lozano, an influential Alatorre rival who is attempting to prove that the Eastside lawmaker and his wife are unfit guardians.

The Alatorres’ attorney said that placing such allegations in the court record is “lower than despicable . . . absolutely reprehensible.”

“This case is about the welfare of a well-adjusted, very beautiful young girl,” said lawyer Neil Papiano. “Her mother died, her father abandoned her and the Alatorres took her in. . . . It is not a political issue.”

Papiano said he had not yet been served with a copy of the motion and thus would not respond to specific accusations.

Alatorre’s office did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by The Times. But in a statement issued to City News Service on Thursday night, he criticized the newspaper for publicizing the legal action and said: “There are things that I have done in my life that I am not proud of. But I am very proud of the father that I have been to my little girl.”

A substantial portion of the motion filed in Superior Court is based on more than 50 pages of testimony by Alatorre’s former executive secretary, Linda M. Ward, whom the councilman’s friends dismiss as a vindictive ex-girlfriend.

Attorneys representing the Alatorres were not present to cross-examine Ward.

Late last year, Ward told The Times that Alatorre would show up at City Hall with wads of $100 bills after meetings with people with government ties. She repeated those allegations in her sworn statement and provided additional details.

Much of her testimony, however, centered on her allegations of drug use. Although the councilman has publicly acknowledged being treated for alcoholism in the past, he has not discussed any problems with chemical dependencies.

Ward said she drew her conclusions primarily from discussions with the councilman’s current wife, Angie Alatorre; his wild mood swings at City Hall; his regular midday visits to suspected drug dealers; and hers and others’ observations of white residue around his nostrils.

She said she saw Alatorre snort cocaine only once, 20 years ago, and does not know whether any of the behavior to which she testified continued after her reluctant departure in 1995. Ward acknowledges dating Alatorre in the 1970s and said that she is angry at the councilman for asking her to leave her job. She now works as a legal secretary in the city attorney’s office.

Unflattering Portrait

In her sworn statement--provided to Lozano’s attorney Saturday--Ward paints an unflattering picture of Alatorre’s conduct at City Hall and its effect on his duties and staff.

Ward alleged that “periodically” and “not very frequently” staffers would find cocaine residue in the councilman’s City Hall bathroom.

“There were about three of us in the office that were suspicious of his use, and we used to like, you know, be nosy, women that we were. And when he would leave his bathroom, we would go and see if there was any residue on the counter,” Ward said.

“And one of the girls who had used cocaine would wipe her finger across the counter and get the residue and put it in her mouth--put it in her mouth and say, ‘Yeah, that’s cocaine.’

“And sometimes I would see residue of cocaine around his nostrils, and I would call the same girl. I would buzz her, because sometimes he would be like on his way to council chambers.

He would have like white stuff around his nostril, and I would buzz her because I was embarrassed to tell him anything. And I’d say, ‘Your boss has been eating sugar doughnuts again.’ ”

That staffer, Ward said, would then “very tactfully” approach Alatorre and say, “ ‘Oh boss, what have you been eating?’ And she would start wiping his face and sort of dusting off his tie. And then he would go in the bathroom and clean himself up.”

Ward, who worked for Alatorre from 1985 to 1995, did not say--nor was she asked--when these incidents occurred.

She did say that the councilman displayed erratic behavior and frequently disappeared during the day until the time she left his employ, except for a time after he was in rehabilitation.

“Sometimes he would come in, and he would be such a bastard, so mean you couldn’t believe it,” she said. “He would have everybody in the office shaking.”

He would then leave the building for a short time and come back in a very different frame of mind.

“He would be in a wonderful mood,” Ward said. “Sometimes, he used to dance around the office, sometimes, like a ballerina, and make us laugh.”

Ward, who was in charge of keeping track of Alatorre’s schedule, said he would occasionally leave the office so abruptly that he would “walk right past” people waiting to see him, saying he would be back soon.

Ward said the councilman’s alleged cocaine problem was no secret to his wife, Angie.

“She has always been aware of Mr. Alatorre’s drug use, and she’s been trying her best to get him sober ever since I can remember, ever since their relationship developed,” Ward alleged.

“I know that she knew that he used cocaine because we would talk about it. . . . It was like her biggest dream would be to have him sober. She hated the fact that he used drugs.”

Allegations About Funds

In addition to questions about drug abuse, Ward was asked during her testimony about The Times’ story in December in which she said the councilman, when strapped for funds, would ask her to set up meetings with three people.

He would later return, she alleged, with thousands of dollars, which she was authorized to deposit in his checking account.

One of those people, she said in her sworn statement, was real estate investor Samuel S. Mevorach, a key figure in an FBI corruption probe of Alatorre, one of a number of investigations confronting the councilman, who also is a board member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Mevorach’s attorney, Sheldon H. Sloan, said it would be inappropriate for his client to comment given reports of an ongoing federal probe.

Sources have told The Times that FBI agents are investigating whether Mevorach and his associates helped Alatorre buy a new home by fabricating financial documents aimed at bolstering the councilman’s chances of getting a mortgage.

The alleged scheme came at a time when Alatorre was pushing for a taxpayer-backed buyout of a lead-contaminated apartment complex Mevorach owned in Alatorre’s district.

Ward said that of the $20,000 she deposited for Alatorre during a five-year period, about one-third of it came after meetings with Mevorach. She said she could not recall the names of the other two men the councilman would visit when strapped for cash.

In her interview with The Times, Ward provided a different estimate of the money and time frame; she placed the amount at about $25,000 and the span as roughly three years.

Ward’s attorney, Glen Jonas, said her client is merely providing “approximations” to the best of her recollection. He also described her as “a reluctant witness.”

Custody Battle in the Courts

Ward was not the sole source of the accusations leveled Thursday in an effort to dissolve the Alatorres’ guardianship of the girl.

In those same court papers filed by attorney Ricardo A. Torres, he alleged that the Alatorres, through a series of improper transactions, secured a $61,000 loan several weeks ago, using as collateral an East Los Angeles home her deceased mother had left her.

Neither the court nor the attorney appointed to represent the girl in the custody battle had any knowledge of the loan, according to court documents.

The Alatorres actions “were unauthorized and may invalidate [the] loan,” the girl’s attorney, Leslie C. Burg, said in a declaration.

Although the court ordered the Alatorres to return the funds by last Thursday evening, the issue is at a standstill while the Alatorres wage a challenge. Their attorney says the loan “was absolutely proper.”

In some respects, the case has transcended a mere custody fight and taken on political overtones.

The girl’s father, Lozano, was the longtime chief of staff for retired Rep. Edward R. Roybal and now is a top aide to Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles).

Lozano has often backed candidates opposed by Alatorre and lately has been trying to recruit potential challengers to the councilman, who faces reelection in April 1999.

Lozano’s attorney, Torres, acknowledged the political rivalry in the court papers but said in an interview that his client’s motivation was solely to gain custody of his daughter.

He said the questions of drug abuse and financial mismanagement contained in his court filing speak directly to the fitness of the Alatorres as guardians.

The Alatorres have said that Lozano has no right to the girl because he has previously shown no interest in her well-being and had “very little” contact with her.

“Lozano has never provided any financial support,” the Alatorres’ attorney said in his court filings. “The only ‘father’ figure the minor has ever known is her guardian, Richard Alatorre.”

Lozano disagrees, insisting in court documents that he regularly visited his daughter--sometimes in the Alatorres’ presence--and provided regular financial support. He said he purchased his daughter and her mother a house, charged reduced rent and then charged them nothing when the mother, Belinda Nykoluk, became gravely ill with cancer.

Lozano said that the real problem was the Alatorres, who obstructed his visits and, in gaining guardianship, claimed they had no knowledge of the father’s identity.

“The guardians and their entire family were fully aware of [Lozano’s] standing as the father,” court documents state.