March 30 - For months, everyone from Ouray County Sheriff Jerry Wakefield to his mother's milkman had heard rumors about an ongoing drug investigation that targeted local law enforcement in their picturesque southwest Colorado enclave of 3,500 residents.

On Monday morning, state and federal authorities delivered.

Agents from the FBI and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced the indictment of 19 people for methamphetamine trafficking, including Ouray County Undersheriff John Wesley Radcliff and Deputy Leroy Dale Todd - nearly half the department's five-person force.

The indictment claims that Radcliff and Todd used their official positions as deputies to "protect methamphetamine trafficking in Ouray County." A second count cited them both for using a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

The 21-count indictment also named Sheriff Wakefield's two daughters - Laura Wakefield Huddleston, 33, and Neysa Lavonn Wakefield Blansett, 27 - as distributors in the operation, as well as Radcliff's 29-year-old wife, Lisa Louise.

Wakefield said the first he knew that anybody in his office or his family had been arrested was when his son-in-law called him at 8 a.m. Monday to say that one of his daughters had been dragged off in her nightgown.

"I'm just absolutely flabbergasted," said Wakefield. Asked if he felt his daughters were innocent, he said, "I'd hope they are."

FBI Special Agent Frank LoTurco called the alleged involvement of law enforcement officers in the drug ring "unfortunate." "But if there are allegations of public corruption, we pursue them with all the resources available," LoTurco said.

Radcliff, 39, lives in Ouray and has served eight years in the sheriff's department. Todd, 52, is a 7-year veteran from Montrose. Both were under suspicion for a year before they were arrested arrested Monday morning.

Also arrested were: Eric Russell Avril, 35, Ridgway; Deann Marie Slough, 34, Ouray; William John Yehling, 38, Montrose; John David Robinson, 26, Ridgway; Kim Walter Hojnowski, 43, Olathe; William Earl Grant, 27, Ridgway; Deanna June Hunter, 52, Montrose; Reid Garrett Rutherford, 30, Montrose.

Two other suspects - Robert Steward Silcock, 43, and Brenda Ann Paul, 47 - were arrested in California. Perry Randall Wherley, 35, of Ridgway, and Federico Estrada-Garcia, 25, of Montrose, were already in custody on other charges.

Still at large are Jodey Michael Gravett, 51, of California, and Ann Jeffries, 30, of Ridgway. Authorities described the investigation as ongoing. Wakefield, who has been Ouray County sheriff for eight years, said he was questioned for 3 1/2 hours last week by FBI and CBI agents and expected that he might be named as a defendant. At least, that was the rumor a milkman in nearby Delta had passed along to Wakefield's 80-year-old mother.

But in the wake of the indictments, Wakefield defended his employees and attributed their arrest to political fallout from last fall's election, when he defeated former deputy Glen Kidder, who Wakefield once suspended before Kidder eventually quit.

Wakefield said Kidder had made some allegations about drug involvement in his department and that last fall he questioned Radcliff about them. On the strength of Radcliff's denials and in light of informants he considered unreliable, Wakefield gave the talk no credence.

He still doesn't.

"I think it's rumors and innuendo," said Wakefield. "It's a personal vendetta from other people." Kidder could not be reached for comment. Carl Whiteside, director of the CBI, said the investigation into methamphetamine trafficking began in November of 1996 and initially targeted Wherley and Paul. But last March, the investigation expanded to include alleged suppliers in the Los Angeles area and involvement by local law enforcement.

The possible complicity of public officials made the probe more arduous - and disconcerting, Whiteside said.

"Our reaction was disappointment," he said. "Public officials are not immune from corruption."