LOS ANGELES (AP) – Former Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca has agreed to plead guilty to lying to investigators during a federal corruption probe that tainted his career, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Baca stepped down from the helm of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department in 2014 amid the probe that led to charges against underlings for beating inmates and for trying to thwart an FBI investigation into those beatings.
Baca signed a plea agreement that said he ordered deputies to intimidate an FBI agent and “do everything but put handcuffs on her.” He later lied to federal prosecutors and the FBI that he wasn’t privy to discussions about trying to derail the investigation.
Baca was scheduled to plead guilty later in the day to a single count of lying to federal investigators. He could face up to six months in prison under the deal. He could withdraw his guilty plea if the judge gives him a longer sentence. In that case prosecutors would proceed to obtain an indictment.
“This is not a day of celebration for us,” U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said during a news conference. “It is a sad day when a leader of a law enforcement agency fails to honor his oath and instead of upholding justice chooses to obstruct it.”