LOS ANGELES – The walls closed in today for former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, 74, who was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for masterminding a scheme to bury a federal investigation into rampant corruption and civil rights abuses within the county’s jail system. The conviction marks a stunning fall from grace for a man who once held the keys to the largest municipal police agency in the nation.
Baca, found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators, received the sentence from United States District Judge Percy Anderson. Anderson, who oversaw a series of trials that implicated ten former members of the Sheriff’s Department in the obstruction plot, didn’t mince words. “Baca knew what he was doing was wrong, and he had no problem using his office to further his own agenda,” the judge stated before handing down the 3-year term and a $7,500 fine. Baca is expected to begin serving his sentence by July 25.
The scheme originated in August 2011, when LASD officials discovered a smuggled cell phone in an inmate’s possession at the Men’s Central Jail. The phone was traced to the FBI’s Civil Rights Squad, and the inmate was revealed as a federal informant. This revelation ignited Baca’s desperate attempt to shield his troubled jails from federal scrutiny, a system already plagued by allegations of inmate abuse and systematic cover-ups. The smuggled phone, it turned out, was delivered by a corrupt deputy accepting bribes – a symptom of the deep rot within the department.
Instead of cooperating with the FBI, Baca ordered a criminal investigation *of* the federal agents themselves. He then directed his deputies to actively conceal the informant’s existence from federal investigators. For six weeks, the conspiracy unfolded, successfully hiding the informant, tampering with witnesses to prevent information leaks, and even threatening to arrest the lead FBI agent on the case. Prosecutors revealed a chilling detail: when shown a recording of his deputies confronting the agent, Baca reportedly “had the best laugh he had in some time.”
While Baca tasked then-Undersheriff Paul Tanaka with implementing the obstruction, evidence presented at trial demonstrated Baca’s direct involvement in dozens of meetings and phone calls, actively directing his deputies. Acting United States Attorney Sandra R. Brown was blunt in her assessment: “Rather than fulfill his sworn duty to uphold the law and protect the public, Lee Baca made a decision to protect what he viewed as his empire, and then he took actions in an effort to simply protect himself.” She emphasized that the sentencing proves “no one is above the law.”
Deirdre Fike, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, echoed that sentiment, stating that Baca, as Sheriff, should have been the one holding his department accountable. “He should have corrected the actions of others, rather than shift blame and obstruct a federal investigation,” she said. The case serves as a stark warning: “Blind obedience to a corrupt culture has serious consequences,” Judge Anderson concluded, a fitting epitaph for a once-powerful sheriff brought down by his own web of deceit.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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