Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By Tony Saavedra, Orange County Register
Posted: 07/29/17 – 12:52 PM PDT |
The gavels had fallen, the cases appeared closed:
Maya Lau
May 24, 2017 – 12:45 p.m.
Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies say they were framed for lying about a drug bust and that prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence that would have spared them a trial, lost wages and public humiliation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Joel Rubin
May 12, 2017
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, once a towering, respected figure in policing, was sentenced Friday to three years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to obstruct an FBI investigation of abuses in county jails, marking an end to a corruption scandal that has roiled the Sheriff’s Department for several years.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 03/15/17 – 2:10 PM PDT |
Once the head of the largest law enforcement agency of its kind in the nation, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was found guilty by a federal jury Wednesday of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and giving false statements in connection with an investigation into corruption and excessive use of force inside the Men’s Central Jail.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 03/09/17 – 12:22 PM PST |
After almost two weeks of testimony by more than a dozen witnesses, the prosecution and defense rested their cases Thursday in the federal jail corruption re-trial of former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.
Maya Lau
February 20, 2017
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has collected the names of about 300 deputies who have a history of past misconduct — such as domestic violence, theft, bribery and brutality — that could damage their credibility if they testify in court.
Joel Rubin
January 10, 2017
Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that they will retry former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca following a recent mistrial in which a jury nearly cleared him of obstructing an FBI investigation into the county’s jails.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 01/09/17 – 4:09 PM PST |
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is expected to be back in federal court Tuesday to determine if he’ll stand trial on three pending charges that stem from a jail corruption and inmate abuse scandal.
Joel Rubin and Victoria Kim
December 24, 2016
The team of federal prosecutors was on a roll.
For nearly five years, the Public Corruption and Civil Rights section of the U.S. attorney’s office had been building and winning cases against a group from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department accused of carrying out a plan to obstruct a federal investigation into allegations of inmate abuse at the county jails.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/22/16 – 2:43 PM PST |
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca walked out of federal court Thursday almost a free man after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked and a judge declared a mistrial in his jail corruption trial.
Patrick McGreevy
California politics
Dec. 20, 2016 – 3:23 p.m.
Los Angeles County had more cases of politicians and others successfully prosecuted for violating campaign finance and ethics rules than any other county in California this year, the state Fair Political Practices Commission reported Tuesday.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/15/16 – 6:59 PM PST |
Former Sheriff Lee Baca, who led the largest law enforcement department of its kind in the nation, may take the witness stand in his own defense in an ongoing federal jail corruption trial, his attorney announced Thursday.
Victoria Kim
December 10, 2016
Two ex-Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who have been convicted of obstructing an FBI civil rights investigation into the county jails told a federal jury on Friday that they believed they were following orders from former Sheriff Lee Baca.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/07/16 – 12:22 PM PST | U
Former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca was “the heartbeat of conspiracy” when it came to hiding abuses within Men’s Central Jail, and he did nothing to hold deputies who beat inmates accountable, prosecutors said in federal court Wednesday.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/05/16 – 8:28 PM PST |
Two newly elected Los Angeles County supervisors brought historic changes to local politics Monday when they became part of a supermajority of women to serve on the largest local governmental body in the nation.
Adam Elmahrek and Hailey Branson-Potts
November 9, 2016
Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger were elected Tuesday night to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, marking the election of a female majority and a continued leftward shift for the influential panel.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 11/01/16 – 1:37 PM PDT |
A long-awaited civilian oversight commission to push reforms within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, two years after it was formally proposed.
Adam Elmahrek
October 29, 2016
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors secretly launched a public corruption investigation of its former Chief Executive William T Fujioka shortly after his retirement two years ago, examining his role in real estate dealings, a multimillion-dollar emergency communications project and other county business, according to a document obtained by The Times and officials familiar with the probe.
Joel Rubin
September 28, 2016
A federal judge Wednesday ruled that former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka should not remain out of prison while he appeals his conviction on obstruction of justice charges.
Adam Elmahrek
August 29, 2016
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey has accepted more than $10,000 worth of gifts over the last four years from criminal defense attorneys, police unions, business owners, prosecutors in her office and others who could have an interest in influencing her decisions as one of the most powerful law enforcement officials in the county, according to state records.
Joel Rubin
August 12, 2016
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded not guilty Friday afternoon to felony charges arising from an FBI probe into county jails.
Paul Pringle and Rong-Gong Lin II
August 6, 2016
The alleged bribes and kickbacks that prosecutors said flowed like honey between government officials at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and people who did business at the venerable stadium exceeded $2 million — cash that belonged to the taxpayers.
Cindy Chang
August 5, 2016
Days after withdrawing a guilty plea for lying during an FBI investigation into widespread abuses at the county jails, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was indicted Friday on more serious charges that could bring up to 20 years in prison.
Rong-Gong Lin II, Paul Pringle and Marisa Gerber
August 4, 2016
Two concert promoters accused in a bribery-and-embezzlement scheme involving raves at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will avoid serving any jail time under a plea bargain with prosecutors who acknowledged, for the second time, that they mishandled evidence in the high-profile corruption case.
Joel Rubin
August 4, 2016
A federal appeals court Thursday upheld the convictions of seven former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on charges they tried to thwart an FBI investigation into county jails.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 08/02/16 – 6:15 PM PDT |
Four candidates who were running to replace Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich threw their support behind his top aide Tuesday.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 08/01/16 – 6:59 AM PDT |
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca told a federal judge Monday he wants to withdraw his guilty plea and stand trial in connection with a jail corruption scandal that has already taken down almost a dozen of his former deputies and his second in command.
By Brian Melley, Associated Press
Jul. 31, 2016 – 2:24 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Sheriff Lee Baca, who pleaded guilty to trying to thwart an FBI investigation into abuses at the jails he ran, faces a difficult choice that will influence how he spends the healthiest days of his retirement.
Cindy Chang and Marisa Gerber
July 18, 2016
A federal judge on Monday threw out a plea agreement that would have given former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca a maximum of six months in prison, saying the sentence was too lenient considering Baca’s role in obstructing an FBI investigation into the county jails.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 07/06/16 – 9:09 PM PDT |
The two candidates hoping to replace retiring Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich honed in on their differences Wednesday as both get set to focus on a campaign that began with eight contenders.
Abby Sewell
July 1, 2016
After weeks in limbo, the November field is set in the race to replace retiring Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, with a political neophyte facing off against the incumbent’s chief of staff.
Joel Rubin
June 27, 2016
For years, allegations of inmate beatings by sheriff’s deputies in Los Angeles County jails swirled. When they did, one name surfaced over and over: Paul Tanaka.
Abby Sewell
June 24, 2016
The latest round of vote-counting released by the Los Angeles County registrar shows an outsider candidate maintaining his lead over a state senator in a close contest for a runoff spot in the race to replace retiring county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.
Joel Rubin
June 20, 2016
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, but he nonetheless should serve time in prison for lying to federal investigators during a probe into jail abuses by sheriff’s deputies, the U.S. attorney’s office has concluded.
By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 06/14/16 – 7:45 PM PDT |
A week after California’s primary election, the race for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich’s seat continued to be too close to call Tuesday, with more votes still to be counted.
By Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 06/13/16 – 7:03 PM PDT |
POMONA >> At a conference Monday aimed at boosting regional connectivity between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley, territorial and financial issues created a lack of agreement on the best way to move people and solve cross-county gridlock.
Joel Rubin
May 10, 2016
Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were sentenced Monday to more than a year each in federal prison for lying on reports they wrote about violently subduing a handcuffed jail inmate.
By Brian Day, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted: 05/01/16 – 1:28 PM PDT |
LOS ANGELES COUNTY >> A high-ranking Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department official has resigned in the wake of recent revelations that he shared “inappropriate and unprofessional” emails during his previous job as assistant police chief in Burbank, the L.A. County sheriff announced Sunday.
Cindy Chang and Alene Tchekmedyian
April 28, 2016
Outrage over emails sent by a top aide mocking Muslims, blacks, Latinos, women and others is presenting Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell with a serious test as he attempts to reform his troubled agency.
Alene Tchekmedyian and Cindy Chang
April 27, 2016
A top Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department official forwarded emails with jokes containing derogatory stereotypes of Muslims, blacks, Latinos, women and others from his work account during his previous job with the Burbank Police Department, according to city records.
Cindy Chang
April 26, 2016
The enormousness of the task facing Terri McDonald was clear.
A veteran of the state prisons, she had been brought in to turn around a Los Angeles County jail system reeling from allegations of mismanagement and abuse.
Abby Sewell
April 7, 2016
In a long-awaited ruling, a federal judge has sided with plaintiffs who argued it was unconstitutional for Los Angeles County supervisors to place a Christian cross on the county seal.
Joel Rubin
April 6, 2016
A federal jury on Wednesday convicted former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka of deliberately impeding an FBI investigation, capping a jail abuse and obstruction scandal that reached to the top echelons of the Sheriff’s Department.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 04/04/16 – 9:56 PM PDT |
Former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka admitted on the witness stand Monday that he has a tattoo associated with a deputy gang known as the Vikings that a federal judge has called a “neo-nazi, white supremacist” group.
Joel Rubin
March 24, 2016
The criminal trial of Paul Tanaka, a once powerful figure in Los Angeles policing, is set to open with the former undersheriff facing charges he deliberately thwarted an FBI investigation into jail abuses.
Joel Rubin and Cindy Chang
February 12, 2016
The sheriff’s lie came 25 minutes into the interview.
Shelby Grad and Richard Winton
February 10, 2016
At the center of the FBI’s investigation into abuses at the Los Angeles County Jail was a top-secret program known as Operation Pandora’s Box.
Joel Rubin, Cindy Chang and Harriet Ryan
February 10, 2016
Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying to federal investigators, a stunning reversal for the longtime law enforcement leader who for years insisted he played no role in the misconduct that tarnished his agency.
Joel Rubin
February 2, 2016
A federal jury found two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies guilty Tuesday of falsifying records about the beating of a jail inmate but deadlocked on whether the deputies used excessive force.
Abby Sewell
February 1, 2016
Campaign finance reports filed Monday gave a glimpse at the strength of candidates running for two open seats on the powerful Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Abby Sewell
January 15, 2016
Los Angeles County’s spending on lawsuit-related attorney fees, settlements and judgments rose 24% last year — an increase driven largely by litigation against the Sheriff’s Department.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 01/12/16 – 9:26 PM PST |
After hearing comment from dozens of activists in opposition, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday that retired law enforcement officials may be eligible to sit on a commission that will oversee the Sheriff’s Department.
Joel Rubin
December 26, 2015
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department already was engulfed in a jail brutality scandal when a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office examined the beating of Gabriel Carrillo.
By Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 12/11/15 – 1:52 PM PST |
Los Angeles County’s former chief attorney claims the Board of Supervisors coerced his resignation by forcing him to issue a false press release and sign an agreement “under duress” when he stepped down from the job in June.
Joel Rubin
November 30, 2015
Two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were sentenced to federal prison Monday for their roles in the beating of a handcuffed jail visitor and a scheme to cover up the assault.
Abby Sewell
November 20, 2015
Workers represented by Los Angeles County’s largest employee union voted to approve a tentative agreement with county management that would give them a 10% raise over three years.
By Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 11/08/15 – 4:23 PM PST |
After criticism, LA County government limits car washes to once a month
Abby Sewell
November 3, 2015
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and members of several other employee groups will get a 10% pay increase over three years under contracts approved Tuesday by county supervisors.
By City News Service
Posted: 10/16/15 – 8:01 PM PDT |
LOS ANGELES >> In a case stemming from the beating of a handcuffed man at Men’s Central Jail, a sixth former member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was indicted Friday on federal charges for allegedly participating in the cover-up of the incident.
Cindy Chang
October 13, 2015
A top-ranking Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department official has abruptly announced his retirement amid an internal investigation into his purchase of a stolen Audi sedan from a tow-yard owner with a department contract.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 10/06/15 – 8:12 PM PDT |
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously named Sachi Hamai as the county’s chief executive officer.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 09/28/15 – 5:01 PM PDT |
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca will not be immune from prosecution if he is called to testify in the corruption case against his former second-in-command and reveals any criminal activity that occurred in the jails under his watch.
By Brenda Gazzar, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 09/16/15 – 9:15 PM PDT |
Local poverty rates remain stubbornly high despite lower unemployment, census figures show.
More than one in five people were living in poverty in San Bernardino County last year while the poverty rate in Los Angeles County didn’t lag far behind, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
By Shea Johnson
Staff Writer
Posted Sep. 1, 2015 at 5:33 PM
Updated Sep 1, 2015 at 7:23 PM
ADELANTO — Mayor Pro Tem Jermaine Wright on Tuesday welcomed Los Angeles County Supervisors’ rejection of a controversial jail plan that was touted by its developers as an injection into the city’s lagging economy.
By Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 08/22/15 – 4:47 PM PDT |
On the Los Angeles County government’s official list of employee take-home vehicles, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas looks very frugal. His assigned car, a 9-year-old Chrysler 300 Limited sedan, cost the county about half as much as the next supervisor’s.
By Patrick McGreevy and Abby Sewell
August 21, 2015
Anxiety was high Friday in state, county and city offices after hackers released lists of dozens of government email addresses in California that were used to access the Ashley Madison online dating site for married people.
By Abby Sewell
August 19, 2015
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey notified the Board of Supervisors last week that their vote on a controversial downtown jail plan violated the state’s open meetings law, the latest in a string of incidents in which the board has run afoul of the Ralph M. Brown Act.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 08/19/15 – 8:36 PM PDT |
Accused of corruption, Paul Tanaka, once second in command of the Sheriff’s Department, said charges against him should be dropped, according to federal court documents obtained Wednesday.
By City News Service
Posted: 08/13/15 – 7:59 PM PDT |
A retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department captain charged with obstructing a federal probe into corruption in the county jails has agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge and cooperate in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation, according to court papers filed Thursday.
By Cindy Chang and Joel Rubin
August 5, 2015
Capping years of scandal, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has agreed to federal oversight of its jail system in an effort to end abuse of inmates by sheriff’s deputies and to improve chronically poor treatment of mentally ill inmates.
By Alice Walton
August 2, 2015
The primary election is 10 months away, but candidates for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ 5th District are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars as they jockey to pull ahead in a crowded field.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 07/28/15 – 11:52 PM PDT |
While calling Los Angeles County “late to the party” when it comes to police oversight, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday discussed the role of a new oversight commission for the Sheriff’s Department but took no action.
By Shea Johnson, Staff Writer
Posted: Jul. 23, 2015 at 4:59 PM
ADELANTO — The developers of a controversial jail plan that would ease Los Angeles County inmate overcrowding and be a financial boon to this city have been given until the end of the year to lock down an agreement with L.A. County or face the possibility the project will die.
By Abby Sewell, Jean Merl and Katie Shepherd
July 21, 2015
Organized labor won an important victory Tuesday when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to increase the minimum wage to $15, but it now faces a more daunting political challenge: convincing other local governments to join the movement.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 07/16/15 – 7:33 PM PDT |
Fueled by an increase in home sales, the assessed value of all taxable property in Los Angeles County rose 6.13 percent in 2015 — the largest jump since 2010 — the county assessor reported Thursday.
By Mike Reicher, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 07/11/15 – 3:23 PM PDT |
Walk the garage under Los Angeles County’s headquarters and you’ll see rows of practical Ford Tauruses and efficient Toyota Priuses — the ones with government seals on the front doors.
By David Zahniser
July 11, 2015
Ten Los Angeles County Jail employees were relieved of duty pending further investigation following an incident involving an inmate who was allegedly “restrained” for 32 hours, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Saturday.
By Abby Sewell
July 7, 2015
They are called the “five little kings.”
Each represents a constituency of about 2 million people. Together, they oversee America’s largest local government agency, with a $27-billion budget and 100,000 employees.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 07/04/15 – 6:27 PM PDT |
The Los Angeles County District Attorney will staff a conviction review unit that will investigate claims by inmates who say they are innocent.
By Joel Rubin
June 25, 2015
Three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were convicted Wednesday of beating a handcuffed man bloody and then lying to cover up the abuse.
Posted by Alexander Nguyen
June 24, 2015
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department‘s former second-in-command plans to tell a jury that his boss ordered him to develop a way to thwart a federal probe into deputy misconduct at county jails, court papers obtained Tuesday show.
By Sarah Favot, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 06/16/15 – 9:55 PM PDT |
The Los Angeles County of Board Supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose a measure proposed in the state Legislature that would expand the number of supervisors on the board from five to seven.
By Cindy Chang, Joel Rubin and Richard Winton
May 14, 2015
What began more than four years ago as a federal investigation into brutality and corruption by deputies in L.A. County jails reached the highest echelons of the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, with two top officials indicted on charges of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to thwart the FBI.
By Shelby Grad
May 14, 2015
The widening scandal at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has at its center a top-secret operation that federal prosecutors said amounted to an outrageous case of obstruction of justice.
By Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 05/14/15, 8:46 PM PDT |
When Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca stepped down more than a year ago, his role and possible indictment in the ongoing federal investigation at the county jails was still in question.