Federal prosecutors are expected to ask a judge today to sentence an ex-Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant to more than 11 years behind bars for encouraging deputies to beat a handcuffed man in a jail visitors’ center and then falsifying reports to cover it up.
Eric Gonzalez, 49, was convicted by a Los Angeles federal jury in June of conspiracy to violate constitutional rights, deprivation of rights and falsification of records in the February 2011 beating of jail visitor Gabriel Carrillo at the Men’s Central Jail.
Four co-defendants have also been convicted and await sentencing, and a sixth pleaded not guilty Friday to participating in the cover-up.
Gonzalez’s defense lawyer is expected to recommend that U.S. District Judge George H. King impose a penalty of no more than 2 1/2 years in federal prison.
In pre-sentencing papers, prosecutors wrote that Gonzalez — who was supervisor of the visiting center — gave “tacit consent that allowed deputies under his command to attack a handcuffed man” and then made a “concerted effort to cover up the abuse,” an effort that Gonzalez “directed and engaged in over and over again.”
A year prior to the Carrillo assault, Gonzalez, a 15-year veteran of the department, had been promoted to sergeant at the visiting center, tasked with training and supervising new deputies under his command. Sheriff’s deputies begin their law enforcement careers assigned to county jails.
Along with Gonzalez, the jury convicted ex-deputies Sussie Ayala and Fernando Luviano in the assault. They are scheduled to be sentenced by King on Nov. 30.
Carrillo was attacked after guards found him carrying a cellphone in the waiting area, in violation of jail regulations. The three then conspired to lie about the beating on internal use-of-force reports.
Defense attorneys had argued that only one of Carrillo’s wrists were cuffed, and that he had used the other cuff as a weapon against deputies, resulting in a legitimate use of force.
But jurors said after the verdict that the most damning evidence were photographs of both of Carrillo’s wrists, showing bruising and blistering consistent with being completely handcuffed.
During the weeklong trial, two ex-jail deputies — Neal Womack and Pantamitr Zunggeemoge — testified for the prosecution against their former partners, saying the beat-down inflicted on Carrillo was excessive, illegal and entirely unnecessary. Both former deputies pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
Prosecutors said that during the 45-second assault in a private break room, Luviano and others threw Carrillo — while handcuffed with both hands behind his back — to the ground and then punched and pepper-sprayed him.
Afterward, Gonzalez, Luviano and Ayala “huddled” to figure out a way to justify the use of force in order to complete a “probable cause declaration,” a document used to explain an official use of violence, federal prosecutors said. Byron Dredd, the sixth former deputy in the case, was indicted last month on federal charges for his alleged involvement in falsifying internal reports.
Carrillo was paid $1.2 million by the county last year to settle a related civil rights lawsuit.
