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 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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