May 12 (UPI) — Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was sentenced Friday to serve three years in federal prison for jailhouse abuses of inmates that were committed under his leadership.
Baca, convicted on three charges in March, will serve his time at either a federal facility in Los Angeles or a prison in Oregon.
The FBI began investigating Baca after inmates began complaining about various uses of excessive force in the Men’s Central Jail. That was followed in 2011 by a report detailing abuses, based on accounts of civilian witnesses, compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Last year, a federal judge rejected a plea agreement between Baca and prosecutors that would have earned him a six-month sentence for lying to investigators. The sheriff then pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.
In December, Baca was tried separately on only the obstruction charges, but the prosecution ended with a deadlocked jury. In March, prosecutors tried him on all three counts and won a conviction.
Defense attorneys had argued that Baca, 75, suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and should receive only probation as punishment, due to his deteriorating health.
The judge, though, answered by saying Alzheimer’s is not a “get out of jail card.”
Baca retired as sheriff in 2014 as federal investigators looked into the case. Prosecutors said some of Baca’s subordinates had also made efforts to impede the investigation.
