Ex-L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca pleads guilty to lying to federal investigators
Under a plea deal, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded guilty to a federal charge of lying to investigators, and will spend no more than six months in prison, if he serves any time at all.
In 2010, a grand jury began an investigation into corruption and abuse at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Since then, the U.S. Attorney's Office has charged 18 former and current deputies with such crimes as obstructing justice, beating inmates, bribery, and conspiracy, NBC Los Angeles reports. Baca previously claimed he had no knowledge of abuse at any county jails, deputies intimidating an FBI agent outside of her home, or a coordinated effort by deputies to keep an FBI informant from testifying to a grand jury. NBC Los Angeles reports that for two weeks in 2011, deputies moved an informant around to different jails using a false name every time so the FBI couldn't find the informant and have him or her testify.
Baca, who stepped down in 2014 after more than 15 years as sheriff, is the 18th former member of the department convicted in the case, and he will be sentenced on May 16. Prosecutors have been going up the ranks in the department, and in May 2015, former undersheriff Paul Tanaka was charged with obstructing justice. He is now facing trial. "No one is above the law," U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said Wednesday. "This is a fundamental principle in our society and when it is violated it's the job of the Department of Justice to step in and hold individuals accountable." Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
4 ways to give back this holiday season
The Explainer If your budget is feeling squeezed, remember that money is not the only way you can be generous around the holidays
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
4 tips for hosting an ecofriendly Thanksgiving
The Week Recommends Coming together for the holidays typically produces a ton of waste, but with proper preparation, you can have an environmentally friendly gathering.
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Swearing in the UK: a colourful history
In The Spotlight Thanet council's bad language ban is the latest chapter in a saga of obscenity
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published