A federal indictment filed on Nov. 20 led to the arrest of at least seven current and former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
A news conference held on Monday afternoon by federal authorities announced the arrested are being charged for criminal corruption and stepping on civil rights, according to the AP.
The arrests are part of an investigation about inmate abuse at the nation's largest jail system, which as of Monday holds more than 18,700 inmates, leading to seven deputies being charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The indictments do not specify whether said deputies are current, or past, the AP reported.
The arrests, which have been confirmed by a direct source who is not authorized to speak, do not include and assistant sheriffs or undersheriff, according to the AP.
The 18 page indictment states those arrested are two lieutenants, including the main overseer of the department's safe jail programs, and another who was in charge of investigation allegation of jail crimes committed by sheriff personnel; two other sergeants and three more deputies were also arrested, according to the AP.
Court documents show all seven of the arrested assisted in preventing the FBI from communicating with any inmate who was aiding the FBI in the civil rights probe, the AP reported. An investigation which involved an inmate bribing a deputy to give him a cell phone.
The documents also state inmates were moved and false entries were created in order to hide the inmate from the FBI, making it appear as if the inmate had been released.
Allegations of excessive force by jail officials have been investigated since 2011, according to the AP.
"We've cooperated fully with the FBI in their investigation and we'll continue to do so," Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore told the AP.
Lieutenants and sergeants are also charged for trying to intimidate one of the lead FBI agents outside of her home, stating they would seek a warrant for her arrest, according to the indictment, the AP reported.
Sheriff Lee Baca said he defends his department, but has distanced himself from the allegations, the AP reported. He claims to have created a database to track inmate complaints, and hired a new head of custody and rearranged some of his staff in order to improve inmate safety.
Retired sheriff Cmdr. Bob Olmsted said Monday that the arrests "underscore the high level of corruption that has plagued the Sheriff's Department," adding that he tried "several times" to notify the sheriff and his command staff about "ongoing abuses and misconduct" in Men's Central Jail, but said his "concerns fell on deaf ears."
"I knew I had to act, and as a result, I notified the FBI of the department's culture and acceptance of excessive force, inmate abuse, sheriff's gangs, and corruption," Olmsted said.
