LOS ANGELES (AP) - The former second-in-command of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department was denied a new trial in a federal corruption case that also brought down his boss.
Ex-Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka was sentenced in 2016 to five years in prison after being convicted of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The Los Angeles Times reports (https://lat.ms/2vvwAm1 ) a federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction.
Prosecutors said Tanaka helped orchestrate efforts to hide a jail inmate after deputies discovered he was an FBI informant. They said Tanaka played a key role in sending sergeants to intimidate an FBI agent in the case and threaten to have her arrested.
Tanaka’s boss, former Sheriff Lee Baca, was sentenced to three years in prison. Baca is appealing his conviction.
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