The FBI has been shaking things up among some of the corrupted ranks of law enforcement in Los Angeles, and they've thus far refused to spare some of the city's biggest names. On Friday, May 12, former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, who became the 10th member of the department to be convicted of obstruction back in March, was sentenced for conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators. He will serve a maximum of three years in prison.
The obstruction scheme Baca was busted for involved his efforts to derail a corruption and civil rights investigation into the jail he had been overseeing, prior to his retirement in 2014. He was accused of targeting some of the agents working on his case, for criminal investigations in hopes of deterring them from their pursuit. He was also said to have lied to prosecutors and the feds about the treatment of an inmate who was identified as having collaborated with the FBI against him. Baca would allegedly order his deputies to hide the inmate. In addition to Baca and the 9 others involved in obstruction, up to 11 other ex-deputies have been taken down for abusing inmates and staging cover ups.
US District Court Judge Percy Anderson admitted to being lenient in his sentencing due to Baca's age, 74, and his early Alzheimer's condition. But the 3 years is a notch up from the six months Baca's lawyers tried to plea for in February of 2016. He is scheduled to begin serving out his sentence in late July.
Source: cnn.com
