Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Feb. 10, to lying to federal agents who were leading an investigation into the Sheriff’s Department conduct surrounding corruption and prisoner abuse at LA County jails.
Baca pleaded guilty to “lying to federal investigators conducting a corruption and civil rights probe into the county jail system he once ran,” a CNN report states.
In other words, somewhat like Nixon during the Watergate scandal, Baca is pleading guilty to lying to officers conducting an investigation into conduct of deputies — not pleading guilty to actual abuse.
Baca’s plea deal will limit the amount of jail time the 73-year-old retired sheriff will serve to no more than six months, according to U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker. The judge has yet to agree to the deal.
The former sheriff ran the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, the largest such department in the world, from his election in 1998 through his retirement in 2014, being re-elected four times.
“I don’t see myself as the future. I see myself as part of the past,” Baca said during the announcement of his retirement in January of 2014. However, since that time, Baca’s legacy has certainly overshadowed the present state of the Sheriff’s Department. So far, eight deputies have been convicted and many more indicted for allegations of corruption and inmate abuse.
“Today’s charge and plea agreement demonstrate that illegal behavior within the Sheriff’s Department went to the very top of the organization,” Decker said in a statement. “More importantly, this case illustrates that leaders who foster and then try to hide corrupt culture will be held accountable.”
In response to the statement, CNN reported, the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs said Baca was a “failed” leader who is not “above the law.”
“The plea agreement sends a strong message that no one is above the law. There must be zero tolerance for this type of failed leadership. This by no means undermines the dedication and hard work of the more than 9,000 deputy sheriffs who put their lives on the line protecting LA County residents,” the group’s statement read.
Former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka is scheduled to go to trial next month. He was indicted last year for accusations including blocking the FBI investigation into prisoner abuse and condoning such treatment in LA County jails.
In 2013, when Tanaka was running as a candidate for sheriff, he gave an extensive interview with The Malibu Times during which he not only advocated for a more “hands-on” approach when it came to prisoners in jail, but said that Baca had become a bad leader of the department, which some estimates state has over 18,000 employees and volunteers. Tanaka was, at the time, Baca’s number two.
“There’s a policy … that’s very restrictive on their ability to handle situations that might require hands-on in a lawful manner,” Tanaka said at the time. “Deputies will tell you that their ability to maintain safety and security not only of themselves but of the inmates has been hindered.”
Tanaka in 2013 also claimed Baca had cut him out of his inner circle, a claim which may come in handy with his ongoing denial over knowledge of the FBI coverup.
“Over time he has become increasingly distrustful of basically everybody,” Tanaka said.
