Paul Tanaka, the former Undersheriff of Los Angeles County was sentenced Monday, June 27, to five years in prison for his role in a 2011 conspiracy to derail a federal probe of misconduct in the county’s jails.
Tanaka, 57, was sentenced by US District Judge Percy Anderson for his conviction in April of felony charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. He was also ordered to serve two years of supervised release after he gets out of prison and pay a $7,500 fine.
He was ordered to surrender on Aug. 1.
Tanaka was the ninth sheriff’s official to be convicted of criminal conduct based on the circumstances surrounding the hiding of inmate-informer Anthony Brown, a scheme that involved witness tampering and the threatened arrest of an FBI special agent assigned to the jails investigation.
Sheriff’s deputies connected the phone to the FBI, which had been conducting a secret probe of brutality against inmates.
Seven former sheriff’s lieutenants, sergeants, and deputies who were convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice received prison sentences ranging from 18 to 41 months.
Tanaka faced a maximum of 15 years in federal prison.
