About Lee Baca
Leroy David "Lee" Baca (born May 27, 1942) is a former American law enforcement officer and convicted felon who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. Baca was elected Los Angeles County's 30th sheriff against his mentor Sherman Block, who had died in office days prior to the election but remained on the ballot. He was sworn in on December 7, 1998. He was re-elected to a fourth term in 2010. He was criticized for proposing a half-percent sales tax increase in 2004 to hire more deputy sheriffs, placing friends on the payroll, taking of gifts, and for releasing inmates from the Los Angeles County Jail. On May 12, 2017, Baca was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to obstruct an FBI investigation of abuses in county jails. Baca reported to prison and began his sentence on February 5, 2020. Baca created two Muslim outreach programs beginning in 2006 designed to create trust within the local Muslim community as well as hire law enforcement officers that other Muslims can identity with. Jail officials later discovered the phone, linked it to the FBI and determined that the inmate was an informant. In 1981, Baca became captain of the Norwalk, California, sheriff station.
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