Recordings reveal the lies former LA sheriff told prosecutor

Former Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating corruption in the department, a probe that was gaining momentum when he abruptly retired two years ago.

Baca faces no more than six months prison time after agreeing to plead guilty to a single count as part of a deal with prosecutors, according to his attorney, Michael Zweibeck. But if the court decides to impose a sentence greater than six months, Baca would be allowed to withdraw from the plea agreement and face a possible indictment.

“The case illustrates that those who foster and then try to hide corrupt culture will be prosecuted”, U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said during a news conference announcing the plea agreement.

The former sheriff’s admission of guilt on Wednesday showed that efforts to obstruct went to the top of the agency, according to prosecutors.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles made the announcement on its official Twitter page.

That changed Wednesday with the surprise announcement by federal authorities that the corruption went all the way to the top of the department and that Baca had finally agreed to take the fall.

In a plea deal filed in court Wednesday, Baca admitted to one lie and agreed not to contest allegations that he told other lies during an interview with federal prosecutors on April 12, 2013.

In the court complaint filed this week, prosecutors alleged that Baca “had been a participant in conversations with other members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department about keeping inmate [Anthony Brown] away from the Federal Bureau of Investigation”. The FBI wanted the informant to testify to a grand jury.

The paper adds that Baca oversaw the actions of his staff in hopes to head off the FBI’s investigation, which has yielded eight convictions of former LAPD deputies.

At the apex of the investigation is FBI-enlisted Men’s Central Jail inmate Anthony Brown or “Inmate AB”.

Watching and waiting to see if former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca will get to chill in the jail he oversaw for 15 years.

Baca avoided charges for years as prosecutors moved up the ranks to indict a number of officers and, eventually, his second-in-command. So far, 17 sheriff’s department employees have been convicted as a result of the federal investigation into the violation of inmates’ civil rights and corruption that occurred during Baca’s tenure.

This week, he signed a plea agreement that said he ordered deputies to approach the agent and “do everything but put handcuffs on her”. “In short, he did not lead when he had the opportunity to do so”. If a federal judge accepts the plea agreement this afternoon, Baca would become the 18th person to be convicted.