LOS ANGELES— Once the top lawman in Los Angeles County, former Sheriff Lee Baca could be sentenced Monday to prison time for his role in a corruption scandal that ensnared nearly two dozen members of his staff.
Baca signed a plea agreement in February that said he ordered deputies to intimidate an FBI agent investigating his department and “do everything but put handcuffs on her.”
Baca later lied to federal prosecutors and the FBI, saying he wasn’t privy to discussions about trying to derail the investigation into beatings by guards at the jail.
Baca led the nation’s largest sheriff’s department for 15 years. Popular and media-savvy, he suddenly announced his retirement as his department came under increasing scrutiny in 2014.
LA Police Chief Charlie Beck (L) and Lee Baca march in the 29th annual Kingdom Day Parade on January 20, 2014 in Los Angeles, Calif. (David McNew/Getty Image
