LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (UPI) — A former Los Angeles County Sheriff was sentenced to prison Monday for leading the beating of a handcuffed man.
Eric Gonzalez, 49, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said. Gonzalez, a former sergeant and 15-year veteran of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, was immediately taken into custody after sentencing.
U.S. District Judge George King said the officer “abused his authority and corrupted the very system he was sworn to uphold.”
The beating occurred in 2011 when Gabriel Carrillo violated jail regulations and brought a cell phone into the Men’s Central Jail when he came to visit his brother.
At some point after Carrillo was cuffed for the violation, Gonzalez encouraged sheriff’s deputies Sussie Ayala, Fernando Luviano, Neal Womack and Pantamitr Zunggeemoge to beat Carrillo.
In June, a jury found Gonzalez, Ayala and Luviano guilty of the beating and conspiring to lie about it. Ayala and Luviano will be sentenced Nov. 30. Womack and Zunggeemoge also pleaded guilty to assault and await sentencing.
The sixth former deputy involved in the case, Byron Dredd was indicted in October on federal charges for allegedly falsifying reports about the incident.
