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Six Current And Former Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies Sentenced To Federal Prison For Obstructing Federal Civil Rights Investigation
LOS ANGELES – Six sworn deputies who were working in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department each were sentenced today to federal prison terms for interfering with a federal civil rights investigation into misconduct at the Men’s Central Jail.
United States District Judge Percy Anderson issued the sentences after a federal jury determined that the defendants, including two lieutenants, attempted to influence witnesses, threatened an FBI agent with arrest and concealed an FBI informant who should have been turned over to federal authorities.
The six defendants were convicted of participating in a broad conspiracy to obstruct justice, a plot that began in the summer of 2011 after they learned that a jail inmate was an FBI informant and was acting as a cooperator in a federal investigation into corruption and civil rights violations at the jail.
Gregory Thompson, 54, a now-retired lieutenant who oversaw LASD’s Operation Safe Jails Program, was ordered to serve 37 months in prison and to pay a $7,500 fine. Lieutenant Stephen Leavins, 52, who was assigned to the LASD’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, received a 41-month prison sentence.
Gerard Smith, 42, a deputy who was assigned to the Operation Safe Jails Program, was ordered to serve 21 months in prison. Mickey Manzo, 34, a deputy who was assigned to the Operation Safe Jails Program, received a 24-month sentence. Scott Craig, 50, a sergeant who was assigned to the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, was sentenced to 33 months. Maricela Long, 46, a sergeant who was assigned to the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, received a sentence of two years in federal prison.
“Blind obedience to a corrupt culture has serious consequences,” Judge Anderson told the defendants before ordering each of them to begin prison sentences in the coming months.
Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Yonekura stated: “In their corrupt attempt to shield the Sheriff’s Department from scrutiny, these deputies brought scandal and shame to themselves and their department. These deputies decided to impede a federal investigation, and in doing so they threw away their careers and their freedom. These law enforcement officers have now been held accountable for their unlawful actions.”
The defendants were found guilty on July 1 after a jury heard evidence about how the defendants learned that an inmate received a cellular phone from a deputy sheriff who took a bribe and that the inmate was part of a federal civil rights and corruption investigation.
Following the completion of their prison sentences, each defendant will serve one year on supervised release.
“Interference with a federal investigation cannot be tolerated,” said Bill Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The sentences imposed today allow us to move forward toward an environment of mutual trust and the common goal of delivering justice to victims of crime. I look forward to continued collaboration with our trusted partners at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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