Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: LA Sheriff confesses to felony, going to prison

Nancy Dillon (NYDN, Feb. 10, 2016; Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

Fat Cat Sheriff is coming to see us? That's great. We'll give him a fine rat cage welcome.

Former LA County Sheriff, the top cop in the county, wanting to avoid a public perp walk like this, had his team of lawyers -- paid with secret corruption money or a great pension from the county -- cut him a plea deal with minimal jail time.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, 73, falsely told investigators he had no idea his deputies planned to approach and threaten an FBI agent in 2011 because she was probing allegations of corruption and civil rights violations inside his former lockups, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Felon and coward L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, 73, lied to investigators about his gangster tactics, sending deputy thugs to threaten an FBI agent in 2011 because she was probing allegations of corruption and civil rights violations inside LA jails run by the Sheriff's Dept, the U.S. attorney's office said. He preemptively cut a plea deal, confessing to a felony charge, before official indictment. How? Corruption and inside information. His former assistant Tanaka will take the fall (Nick Ut/AP).

Ex-LA top cop Baca faces 6 months or more in prison for lying to investigators

Nancy Dillon (New York Daily News)

Those held in LA Jail routinely report abuse, torture, corruption by Sheriff's deputies.

Buddha (Budai/Hotei) in jail

Sheriff Lee Baca once ran the nation's largest urban jail system but is on the threshold of a possible six-month prison sentence Wednesday.

[He quickly left office to try to avoid indictment and prosecution for numerous crime and years of official corruption.] In a dramatic turn for a former top cop, retired Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was due in a federal courtroom to plead guilty to a single felony charge of lying to investigators, prosecutors said.

Baca, 73, falsely told investigators he had no idea his deputies planned to approach and threaten an FBI agent in 2011 because she was probing allegations of corruption and civil rights violations inside his former lockups, the U.S. attorney's office said. [In fact, he put them up to it, acting like a Mafia crime boss directing henchmen to terrorize witnesses.]

The plea deal calls for a maximum of six months behind bars, but the actual sentence will be determined by a federal judge, according to court filings obtained by the Daily News.

LA County settles civil rights case with feds

Beat them if they look you in the eye. That's how we keep order. Falsify reports to CYA.

Under his [sweet] plea agreement, Baca now [confesses to the felony charge that] he secretly directed deputies to "isolate" an inmate suspected of being an FBI informant and "do everything but put handcuffs" on the FBI agent sniffing around his jails. ["Everything"? Does that include fitting for cement shoes and driving her to LA's MacArthur Park Lake?]

As a result, two deputies approached the agent outside her home on September 26, 2011, and threatened her with arrest, prosecutors said.

Officials said it was during a 2013 meeting with the FBI and assistant U.S. attorneys that Baca denied any participation in the 2011 meetings.

Sardine-prison where gay rape, violence, extortion, indifference are everyday reality.

Baca's actions were part of an "extensive scheme" to thwart a sweeping probe that so far has resulted in the convictions of eight LASD deputies with ranks as high as captain, prosecutors said.

That hypocrite Baca finally got busted? Ha!

Wednesday’s shock announcement came after Baca’s former top aide, Paul Tanaka, was indicted last May for obstructing the federal probe.

A month after Tanaka’s indictment, three sheriff’s deputies were convicted of beating a handcuffed jail visitor bloody and then fabricating a report to cover up the crime. More