LA County urges $1 million settlement with inmate/informant at center of Baca scandal case

By FRED SHUSTER | City News Service

Los Angeles County is recommending a $1 cardinal colony with the inmate-turned-informant astatine the halfway of a ungraded that led to the condemnation of erstwhile L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and 9 different sheriff’s section employees, according to documents obtained connected Friday, Oct. 29.

Anthony Brown filed a civilian rights suit against the county, Baca and others successful March 2015, seeking damages for claims including cruel and antithetic punishment and nonaccomplishment to supply capable aesculapian care.

In August, the parties announced successful a filing successful Los Angeles national tribunal that the lawsuit had been settled, though implicit solution of the substance is contingent upon last support by the region Claims Board and Board of Supervisors.

The Claims Board is expected to instrumentality up the substance connected Monday. No day has been acceptable for the Board of Supervisors hearing.

Brown, 54, is serving a lengthy authorities situation condemnation for slope robbery and has a agelong transgression history.

The Baca lawsuit stems from a play successful 2011 erstwhile Brown, past an inmate astatine Men’s Central Jail, was feeding accusation to the FBI astir alleged corruption and inmate maltreatment wrong the jail, which is tally by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

When guards discovered a compartment telephone successful Brown’s possession had been smuggled into the jailhouse astatine the behest of national investigators, they realized they were the people of a national probe.

At that point, Undersheriff Paul Tanaka became involved, overseeing a program to derail the national probe and fell Brown from FBI handlers during a clip erstwhile prosecutors wanted to interrogation the inmate/informant.

Brown was booked and re-booked nether a bid of mendacious names, and was yet told helium had been abandoned by the FBI.

Ten erstwhile sheriff’s section officials — including Baca, Tanaka, and skipper Tom Carey, who headed an interior investigations portion — were subsequently convicted for their roles successful the cover-up.

All claimed they had been progressive successful a morganatic probe into however and wherefore a compartment telephone had been smuggled into the men’s jail.

Baca, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was sentenced successful 2017 to 3 years down bars aft a assemblage recovered helium oversaw the program to interfere with the national probe into inmate abuses successful the region jailhouse strategy and lied to prosecutors astir his role. He began his condemnation successful February 2020 aft years of ineligible wrangling.

Tanaka was sentenced successful 2016 to 5 years successful situation aft a assemblage recovered helium helped pb the scheme.

Carey, who pleaded blameworthy to obstructing the FBI investigation, was sentenced successful 2017 to 9 months successful situation for obstruction of justness and lying connected the witnesser stand.