LA ex sheriff faces trial over lying to FBI during inmate abuse probe

Former Los Angeles County sheriff Lee Baca will face trial on charges of lying to the FBI during an investigation into corruption and abuse at county jails. Baca had pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors, but the judge rejected it as too lenient.Baca, 74, was the county sheriff from December 1998 to January 2014, when he resigned under the cloud of a federal probe into corruption and brutality by county deputies. Baca and his deputy, Paul Tanaka, were accused of lying to the FBI, hiding a Bureau informant from federal agents, and intimidating a female FBI agent involved in the investigation. Tanaka was sentenced in June to five years in prison, the maximum sentence for making a false statement to federal investigators. In the agreement reached between Baca’s lawyers and the prosecution in February, the former sheriff would have faced only six months in prison in exchange for a guilty plea. The deal was rejected last month, however, by US District Judge Percy Anderson, who said the deal “would trivialize the seriousness of the offenses,” citing “the need for a just punishment, the need to deter others.” Monday’s hearing was reportedly delayed until the afternoon, in hopes of hammering out another plea agreement, but nothing came of it. Rescinding his previous guilty pleas, Baca will go to trial on September 20.