{"id":20283,"date":"2016-02-10T13:21:02","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T21:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20283"},"modified":"2016-02-10T16:11:05","modified_gmt":"2016-02-11T00:11:05","slug":"former-los-angeles-county-sheriff-leroy-baca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20283","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Los Angeles Sheriff Baca Lied to Feds During Jail Investigation into Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"MensFormer Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca plead guilty to lying to the FBI and federal attorneys about his deputies contacting FBI agent who they threatened with arrest, officials said today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Baca plead guilty to\u00a0a felony charge of making a false statement to federal authorities who were conducting a wide-ranging corruption and civil rights investigation into the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the measures of an organizational culture is how it handles its allegations of misconduct,\u201d said David Bowdich, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office.<\/strong> \u201cMr. Baca set the wrong command climate and allowed that culture to fester, instead of fostering an environment of accountability.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adding, “In short, he did not lead when he had the opportunity to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Times <\/a>reported that\u00a0Baca’s attorney, Michael Zweibeck, said Baca feels bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe feels bad about a lot of things,\u201d Zweibeck told the Times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cHe is ready for whatever outcome is deemed appropriate by the court.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Times reported that Zweibeck said negotiations with prosecutors began five days ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to put this behind him,\u201d Zweibeck said. \u00a0Baca didn’t want the “men and women of the Sheriff\u2019s Department to be under this cloud.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal officials said Baca met with senior deputes to discuss approaching the FBI agent during a September 2011 meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s charge and plea agreement demonstrate that illegal behavior within the Sheriff\u2019s Department went to the very top of the organization,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker<\/strong>. \u201cMore importantly, this case illustrates that leaders who foster and then try to hide a corrupt culture will be held accountable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"U.S.In a plea agreement filed this morning in federal court, Baca admitted that he lied to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office when he falsely stated that he did not know that his deputies were going to approach the FBI\u2019s lead agent on the investigation in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Baca was aware that his deputies were going to contact the agent, and he directed that they \u201cshould do everything but put handcuffs\u201d on her, according to his plea agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

During an April 12, 2013 meeting with FBI agents and federal prosecutors, Baca falsely stated that he was not made aware of his deputies contacting the FBI case agent until he received a phone call from the FBI\u2019s then-Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office, who told Baca that deputies had threatened to arrest the agent.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the plea agreement, Baca admitted that he knew his statement was untrue and that it was illegal to lie to federal investigators.<\/span><\/p>\n

The threat to arrest the FBI case agent was part of an extensive scheme to obstruct justice which previously has resulted in eight LASD deputies with ranks as high as captain being convicted of federal charges, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Paul
former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Case Against Paul Tanaka<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The ninth person to be charged in relation to conspiracy to obstruct justice \u2013 former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka<\/strong> \u2013 is currently scheduled to go on trial on March 22.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the course of the investigation that was being conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office and a federal grand jury, a sheriff\u2019s deputy assigned to the Men\u2019s Central Jail<\/strong> accepted a bribe to smuggle a cell phone into the facility.<\/span><\/p>\n

The phone was delivered to an inmate who was working as an FBI informant. Jail officials later discovered the phone, linked it to the FBI and determined that the inmate was an informant.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege that Tanaka oversaw a secret plan in 2011 to hide inmate-turned FBI informant Anthony Brown<\/strong> from FBI handlers. Brown was shuffled around from one jail cell to another and was told that the FBI abandoned him, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

This led to a month-long scheme to obstruct the investigation, which included members of the conspiracy concealing the informant from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the grand jury.<\/span><\/p>\n

Members of the conspiracy also engaged in witness tampering and harassing the FBI agent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Baca Meeting About FBI Agent<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Baca participated in a September 25, 2011 meeting in which senior members of the department discussed approaching the FBI case agent. The next day, two Los Angeles deputy sergeants approached the agent and threatened her with arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the 2013 meeting with the FBI and federal prosecutors, Baca denied knowing about the plan to approach the case agent, and he also denied participating in conversations about \u201ckeeping the FBI and Inmate AB away from each other,\u201d according to the statement of facts in the plea agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FBI investigated the case against Baca. It is one in a series of cases resulting from an investigation into corruption and civil rights abuses at county jail facilities in downtown Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of the investigation, 17 current or former members of the Los Angeles Sheriff\u2019s Department have now been convicted of federal charges.<\/span><\/p>\n

If a federal judge accepts the plea agreement this afternoon, Baca would become the 18th person to be convicted.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Feb 10 TV News Video)<\/span><\/strong>
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