LOS ANGELES
The former chief of police for the Port of Los Angeles plead guilty Wednesday to federal charges of tax evasion and making false statements to FBI agents, officials announced.
The FBI was investigating his acceptance of a bribe in connection with the development of a social networking program that would become the official smartphone app for the Port and would then be marketed to other law enforcement agencies, authorities said.
Ronald Jerome Boyd, 58, of Torrance, plead guilty to three offenses and is facing up to 11 years in prison, according to officials.
Boyd pleaded guilty on the day he was scheduled to go to trial on a 16-count indictment that was returned by a grand jury last year.
Boyd admitted to lying to federal investigators about a scheme related to a smartphone app called Portwatch, which was developed to provide information to the public and to allow citizens to report criminal activity at the port.
“Public officials who use their position of leadership for unlawful personal gain erode the public’s trust in government,” said David Bowdich, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Law enforcement officials at all levels have an obligation to uphold the law and remain loyal to the citizens they swore to serve.”
The indictment accused Boyd of corruption, lying to FBI agents, failing to file federal corporate tax returns for a private security company he created, and tax evasion.
In 2011, Boyd and two business partners formed BDB Digital Communications, a company that entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with the unnamed company developing Portwatch.
The parties involved with BDB intended to generate revenues by marketing and selling a similar app – called Metrowatch – to other government agencies.
“Under the terms of this agreement, defendant Boyd would receive approximately 13.33 percent of all gross revenues generated by the sale of the Metrowatch application throughout the United States,” according to the indictment.
The revenue-sharing agreement was contingent upon Boyd’s assistance in securing the Portwatch contract for the unnamed company, the indictment stated.
Over the course of a year beginning in October 2011, Boyd took steps to benefit the unnamed company with respect to the Portwatch contract.
The indictment alleges that his actions included the following things:
- Hosting a private meeting with the unnamed company for the purpose of disclosing confidential information
- Meeting with Los Angeles officials that included the city attorney and the mayor
- Editing the scope of work for the Portwatch contract so that he could personally monitor the Portwatch app’s development
- Urging the Port to expedite a press release to announce the implementation of the Portwatch app.
The indictment also states that Boyd, who was interviewed by special agents with the FBI last October, lied to the investigators when he denied having any financial interest in Metrowatch.
Boyd falsely stated that BDB was created to sell body armor, and that he was unaware of the revenue-sharing agreement between the unnamed company and BDB, according to the indictment.