I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…
Sgt. Maricela Long, left, and Lt. Stephen Leavins, far right, leave the federal courthouse after sentencing Tuesday. Long got 24 months and Leavins 41 months
Six L.A. County Sheriff Workers Get Prison for Obstructing Jail Probe:
http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-deputy-corruption-20140924-story.html
(Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times) A federal judge on Tuesday lambasted what he called a “corrupt culture” within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as he sentenced six current and former members of the department to prison for obstructing a federal investigation into abuse and corruption at the county jails.
U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson said evidence showed there were “significant problems” within the department, including an “us-versus-them mentality,” routine cover-up of inmate abuse, and an “unwritten code” taught to new jail deputies that any inmate who fought a guard should end up in the hospital.
My Commentary: According to the article, “jurors convicted the sheriff’s officials this year of conspiring to impede a grand jury investigation by keeping an inmate informant hidden from his FBI handlers, dissuading witnesses from cooperating and trying to intimidate a federal agent.”
Even the mainstream media monopoly is starting to stray from the script. Ten years ago, the headline for this sort would have read something like this…
“Conspiracy Kooks Infiltrate Jury Pool in Cop Case and Toss Local Heroes into Jail, Prompting Public Outcry for State Reforms to Juror Laws”
