Former Sheriff Baca Hires Attorney; US District Judge Denies Immunity Request

Embattled Sheriff Leroy Baca at the press conference when he announced his retirement last year. – Photo by Terry Miller

U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson has ruled that former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca will not be granted immunity in the upcoming corruption trial of his former LASD Undersheriff Paul Tanaka.

Tanaka’s attorney H. Dean Steward said he wanted the government to grant Baca immunity so he could testify on Tanaka’s behalf. Steward said it remains to be seen if he will call Baca to the stand without the grant of immunity.

Meanwhile, Baca has hired his own criminal defense attorney, Michael Zwieback.
Prosecutors allege that Tanaka oversaw a secret plan in 2011 to hide inmate-turned-FBI-informant Anthony Brown from FBI handlers. Brown was booked and re-booked under a series of false names, moved to multiple locations and eventually told by sheriff’s officials that the FBI had abandoned him
Seven now-former LASD deputies, sergeants, and lieutenants were convicted last year for their roles in the operation.

Tanaka and former Capt. Tom Carey, the eighth and ninth sheriff’s officials to face criminal charges related to this case, were charged in May with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. Carey is also charged with two counts of making false statements.

Both pleaded not guilty in May. However, Carey struck a deal with federal prosecutors in August, pleading guilty to one felony count of making false statements.

Tanaka’s trial is slated to begin March 22.

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