Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies jailed for obstructing federal investigation

Six Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies were sentenced Tuesday to federal prison terms for interfering with a federal civil rights investigation into misconduct at the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail, the largest county jail in the United States.

The defendants received prison terms of up to 41 months.

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson issued the sentences Tuesday after a federal jury determined that the defendants, including two lieutenants, attempted to influence witnesses, threatened an FBI agent with arrest and concealed an FBI informant who should have been turned over to federal authorities.

All defendants were convicted of participating in a broad conspiracy to obstruct justice, a plot that began in the summer of 2011 after they learned that a jail inmate was an FBI informant and was acting as a cooperator in a federal investigation into corruption and civil rights violations at the jail.

"Blind obedience to a corrupt culture has serious consequences," Judge Anderson told the defendants.

"You have embarrassed the sheriff's department," the judge said. "None of you showed the courage to do what's right."

Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Yonekura stated: "In their corrupt attempt to shield the Sheriff's Department from scrutiny, these deputies brought scandal and shame to themselves and their department."

"Interference with a federal investigation cannot be tolerated," said Bill Lewis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.

But Lewis said that the sentences signified a step forward to achieving "an environment of mutual trust and the common goal of delivering justice to victims of crime."

All six were found guilty on July 1 after a jury heard evidence about how the defendants learned that an inmate received a cellular phone from a deputy sheriff who took a bribe and that the inmate was part of a federal civil rights and corruption investigation.

The deputies took affirmative steps to hide the cooperator from the FBI and the United States Marshals Service, which were attempting to bring the inmate into federal custody pursuant to an order issued by a federal judge.

As part of the conspiracy, records were altered to make it appear as if the cooperator had been released, but in fact he was re-booked under different names.

According to court record, the deputies also engaged in witness tampering by attempting to influence witnesses not to cooperate with the federal grand jury investigation, including the informant and the sheriff's deputy who had taken a bribe to smuggle the cell phone into the jail.

Over the course of several weeks, the defendants sought an order from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge that would have compelled the FBI to turn over information about its investigation to the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department.

After the judge refused to issue such an order, based on a lack of jurisdiction, Scott Craig and Maricela Long, two deputies involved in the scheme, confronted an FBI special agent at her residence in an attempt to intimidate her into providing details about the investigation and to try to deter the FBI from conducting the federal investigation, according to the FBI.

The sergeants falsely told the special agent, and later her supervisor, that they were obtaining a warrant for her arrest.

Speaking of the confrontation at the special agent's home, Judge Anderson said it was one of the most striking incidents related to the obstruction conspiracy, particularly because it was videotaped. "They did this to scare and intimidate the FBI...and they intended to obstruct justice," the judge said.

In addition to the conspiracy count, all six deputies were convicted of obstruction of justice offenses. Craig and Long were also found guilty of making false statements to the FBI agent and to her supervisor about seeking a warrant for her arrest.

Besides Craig and Long, the other four deputies are Gregory Thompson, Lieutenant Stephen Leavins, Gerard Smith and Mickey Manzo.

A seventh former deputy, James Sexton, was convicted last week in a separate trial and will be sentenced in December.