SHADY

Ex-Sheriff to Plead Guilty in Jail Scandal

In connection with a federal investigation.

Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca will plead guilty Wednesday to charges related to a federal corruption investigation. Baca agreed to the plea as part of a deal that will allow him to spend fewer than six months in prison. More than a dozen former sheriff's officials have been convicted in the five-year investigation, and Baca's former right-hand has already been indicted on charges of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to thwart the FBI. That investigation into Baca and his cohorts was opened after the feds planted an informant in the department's jail to probe potentially corrupt deputies. Sheriff's officials reportedly moved him to a different jail under a fake name, prevented FBI agents from speaking to him, and assigned more than a dozen officials to watch him around the clock.