{"id":8013,"date":"2014-12-15T13:12:37","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T21:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=8013"},"modified":"2014-12-17T13:39:53","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T21:39:53","slug":"l-deputy-gets-18-months-prison-role-hiding-fbi-informant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=8013","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Deputy Gets 18 Months in Prison for His Role in Hiding an FBI Informant"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"James<\/a>
James Sexton
Former L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy
(Photo: ABC News LA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013 The seventh and last deputy in the Los Angeles Sheriff\u2019s Department \u00a0who was convicted of obstruction of a civil rights investigation into misconduct at the Men\u2019s Central Jail was sentenced this morning to 18 months in federal prison, officials said.<\/p>\n

During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson told \u00a0James Sexton,<\/strong> 30, that he \u201clost the courage to stand up when he knew things were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his case was severed from the other six defendants in the case, officials said Sexton was found guilty in September of attempting to quash an investigation by the FBI into civil rights abuses at jail facilities operated by the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n

The jury determined that Sexton was part of a broad conspiracy to obstruct justice \u2013 a plot in which conspirators, including two lieutenants, attempted to influence witnesses, threatened an FBI agent with arrest and concealed an FBI informant who should have been turned over to federal authorities.<\/p>\n

Sexton was found guilty of conspiring to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n

The conspiracy to obstruct justice began in the summer of 2011 after sheriff\u2019s deputies assigned to the Men\u2019s Central Jail learned that a jail inmate was an FBI informant and was acting as a cooperator in a federal investigation into corruption and civil rights violations at the jail.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, 18 \u00a0current and former Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s deputies were arrested in December 2013 on suspicion of civil rights and corruption violations, federal authorities said.<\/p>\n

The arrests stem from a two-year federal probe into corruption and inmate abuse within the Los Angeles County jail system, according to officials.<\/p>\n