The former Los Angeles County Sheriff, Lee Baca pleaded guilty on Wednesday to lying on federal corruption probe at the jails his managing that tainted his professional name. He initially insisted before that he has nothing to do with the said crime.
ABC News reported, the former County Sheriff Lee Baca retired from his position, with the largest sheriff's department to run in 2014.Baca was on an FBI probe into misconduct, abuse by deputies in the county's jail system and the attempt to cover up the investigation regarding the inmate beatings.
According to the signed plea agreement by the former County Sheriff, he admitted that he ordered his deputies to approach an FBI agent, stating that they should "do everything but put handcuffs" on her. Los Angeles Times also reported, he told them to hide the jail inmate in order to thwart the federal investigation. He ordered former undersheriff Paul Tanaka to cover up. Tanaka was charged with obstructing justice into brutality and corruption and is set to appear in court on March.
Baca initially lied when he told the investigators that he wasn't aware about the inmate abuses and his underlings' operation to thwart the FBI investigations by hiding the jail inmate, according to CBS News. Deputies tried to hide an FBI jail informant from his handlers for weeks in 2011 by transferring him from cell to cell at various jails under different names. They even altered the jail computer records. The FBI wanted the informant to testify to a grand jury.
Seventeen members of the department have been convicted of federal crimes, including beating inmates, obstructing justice, bribery and conspiracy. Baca's false statements was told on April 12, 2013, during an interview with officials from the FBI and U.S. attorney's office,
Central District of California U.S. attorney Eileen Decker said during the news conference on Wednesday that the prosecutors all agreed not to sentenced Baca over six months, as stated on the plea deal.
