BREAKING THE 'CODE' FORMER RAMPART OFFICER STRIKES DEAL IN EXCHANGE FOR TESTIMONY.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

Cracking the LAPD's code of silence, authorities announced Friday that a Rampart Division officer at the center of the scandal agreed to plead guilty to crimes and cooperate in the investigation - the third officer to do so this week.

Disgraced LAPD Officer Nino Floyd Durden - former partner of rogue cop Rafael Perez - entered guilty pleas in court Friday to six criminal charges and will face a seven-year, eight-month federal prison sentence.

Durden's cooperation marks a major breakthrough in the biggest scandal in modern Los Angeles Police Department history, with two other officers - Manuel Chavez and Shawn Frederick Gomez - pleading no contest to Rampart-related charges earlier this week and agreeing to testify in other Rampart cases.

District Attorney Steve Cooley called Durden's plea a ``significant step forward in resolving the Rampart corruption case ... (but) this does not end the investigation by any means.

``We'll see where this takes us,'' Cooley said. ``We're just going to keep going down the path until there's no further direction to go.''

U.S. Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas called the plea bargain a ``major breakthrough'' in corroborating testimony by Perez in the Rampart scandal.

``As our plea agreement with Durden makes clear, he has been cooperating and we anticipate he will continue to cooperate in our ongoing investigation,'' Mayorkas said.

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, who joined Cooley and federal prosecutors at a downtown news conference, said he was ``saddened but encouraged'' by the breakthrough.

``We intend ... to continue both our administrative and criminal investigation until we have reached the final conclusion that all officers involved have been brought to justice or that we have removed them from the Los Angeles Police Department,'' said the chief.

Durden, 32, pleaded guilty to state charges, including two counts each of perjury and filing a false police report, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and grand theft.

On Monday, he will plead guilty in federal court to three counts of violation of civil rights and possession of an illegal firearm in three separate Rampart cases. He would have faced a maximum 35-year sentence on the federal charges without the plea bargain.

Durden, who resigned from the LAPD on March 5, was originally charged with attempted murder for the shooting of suspected gang member Javier Ovando in the head in a Lake Street apartment in 1996.

Perez, who is serving a five-year sentence after pleading guilty to stealing cocaine from an evidence locker, told authorities he and Durden shot Ovando, then handcuffed him and planted a gun on him to frame him.

But Cooley said there was insufficient evidence to prove that, and police believe Ovando was shot once by Durden, then three times by Perez as Ovando entered the apartment that Perez and Durden were staking out.

Ovando, who was left paralyzed by the shooting, was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison based on false claims by Perez and Durden.

His conviction was later overturned after allegations surfaced about corruption within the Rampart Division. He filed a lawsuit against the city and received a $15 million settlement.

Gregory Moreno, Ovando's attorney, said he was not totally satisfied with Friday's announcement.

``Ovando feels vindicated that both officers have admitted guilt in the shooting,'' Moreno said in an interview after the news conference. ``But there's no doubt that the cover-up was not done by Mr. Durden and Mr. Perez by themselves.''

Durden admitted he and Perez participated in a May 25, 1997, incident at a downtown hotel in which the officers planted a gun on Jose Madrid, who was later wrongly convicted of possession of a firearm and sentenced to 16 months in prison. In another incident, he told investigators they arrested Jorge Toscano and Cynthia Diaz at a motel on West Beverly Boulevard, threatened them with incarceration, and then robbed them of $1,300 in cash.

Three other Rampart officers - Sgts. Brian Liddy and Edward Ortiz and Officer Michael Buchanan - were convicted last year of corruption charges, but a judge later overturned their convictions. The District Attorney's Office plans to appeal that decision.

Another officer, Paul Harper, was acquitted in the same trial.

To date, more than 100 convictions have been overturned as a result of the Rampart investigation.

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