When Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca woke up Monday morning, he was probably looking forward to the fundraiser being held that very evening for his 2014 re-election campaign. But his mood probably changed about 9:30 a.m., when news broke that the U.S. Department of Justice had indicted 18 current or former members of the Sheriff’s Department on a wide range of misconduct charges that include excessive force, unlawful arrests and obstruction of a federal investigation, according to KPCC.
At least three people — including a lieutenant, a sergeant and a deputy — were taken into custody by FBI agents as part of a federal obstruction of justice probe into how sheriff’s officials handled an FBI informant at the center of the jail investigation, one source familiar with the probe said, according to the L.A. Times.
One of four indictments returned Monday named seven officers who were supposed to monitor internal affairs. In the indictment, federal officials charged that two lieutenants tried to hide an inmate after they discovered that he was acting as an informant for the F.B.I.’s investigation.One of four indictments returned Monday named seven officers who were supposed to monitor internal affairs. In the indictment, federal officials charged that two lieutenants tried to hide an inmate after they discovered that he was acting as an informant for the F.B.I.’s investigation, according to the New York Times.
“Our investigation also found that these incidents did not take place in a vacuum — in fact, they demonstrated behavior that had become institutionalized,” U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. said. “The pattern of activity alleged in the obstruction of justice case shows how some members of the Sheriff’s Department considered themselves to be above the law,” according to CNN.
I just spent the past hour trying to find out who endorsed Baca in his last re-election, to no avail. But rest assured that those endorsers will be running away from this guy next year. Baca is done – like our former O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona.