Six Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) officers were found
guilty today in federal court on six counts of conspiracy and
obstruction of justice. The six were accused of obstructing an
ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
into corruption and civil rights violations in the Los Angeles
County Jail, which is run by LASD.
LASD officers were accused of going out of their way to
hide FBI informant Anthony Brown from federal handlers,
going as far as moving him around the Men’s Central Jail and
changing his name. Brown communicated to his handlers incidences of
excessive force inside the jail, as well as the names of officers
involved. In August 2011, during a cell search, deputies found the
mobile phone Brown used to communicate with the FBI.
The six found guilty are among
18 LASD officials charged by the U.S. Attorney’s office as a part
of five criminal cases, and there is a possibility that more
will be indicted. From the
Los Angeles Times:
Attorneys repeatedly invoked former sheriff Lee Baca and
then-undersheriff Paul Tanaka, alleging that they had been the
driving force behind actions taken by the defendants after the
department learned of the federal investigation.Tuesday’s verdict could have a bearing on prosecutors’
decisions on whether to bring charges against higher-ranking
members of the department — they have acknowledged in court that
Tanaka, as well as a current captain of the department, remain
subjects in the still-open grand jury investigation. Tanaka is
currently a candidate for sheriff, heading toward a November
runoff.
Reason TV spoke with the the American Civil Liberties Union of
Southern California, who has been monitoring the jail for
decades, after the charges were filed:
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