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Seventh Los Angeles sheriff's official found guilty in jail probe

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[September 17, 2014]  By Steve Gorman
 
 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was found guilty on Tuesday of obstruction of justice and conspiracy for his role in trying to thwart a federal probe into prisoner abuse and other misconduct inside the United States' largest jail system.

A U.S. District Court jury convicted James Sexton of charges he helped hide an inmate informant from federal investigators after the inmate's cover was blown, altering computer records to make it appear the informant had been released, then re-booking him under false names.

An earlier trial of Sexton ended in May with the jury deadlocked 6-6 over a verdict. He now faces a prison term of up to 15 years when sentenced in December.

Six co-defendants tried collectively before a separate jury were found guilty of obstruction of justice and other charges in July. They are scheduled to be sentenced next Monday.
 


Two other former sheriff's deputies have pleaded guilty - one to a firearms offense, the other to accepting a bribe - in related cases. And 12 more who were charged in connection with the overall investigation are still awaiting trial, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

Indictments unsealed in December 2013 accused sheriff's deputies of subjecting inmates and visitors at two downtown Los Angeles lockups to unjustified beatings or detentions and of trying to cover up their wrongdoing.

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The highest-ranking officials charged in the probe were two lieutenants in the sheriff's department - one who oversaw the jails' anti-gang intelligence unit and another assigned to the internal investigations bureau. They were among the six convicted in July.

The sheriff's department is responsible for managing the Los Angeles County jail system, which houses some 18,000 inmates, the largest number of any county jail system in the nation.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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