A federal choose on Tuesday sentenced a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy to 18 months in jail for conspiring to violate the civil rights of a 23-year-old skateboarder.
Christopher Hernandez is the second former sheriff’s deputy sentenced to jail in reference to the case of Jesus Alegria, who accused the 2 deputies of kidnapping and abusing him after he yelled at them to cease choosing on teenagers in a Compton park. The deputies pressured Alegria into the again of their cruiser minutes earlier than crashing the automobile whereas chasing one other man, prosecutors stated, then fabricated a drug arrest to cowl all of it up.
In December, Hernandez’s former companion — ex-deputy Miguel Vega — was sentenced to 2 years in federal jail after pleading responsible to 1 depend of deprivation of rights underneath shade of legislation. On account of their prison convictions, final month the state Fee on Peace Officer Requirements and Coaching deemed each deputies ineligible to work as law enforcement officials or deputies in California.
Although he didn’t converse in courtroom on Tuesday, Allegria in a written sufferer affect assertion described vacancy and anger which have haunted him because the false arrest. He stated he nonetheless struggles to be comfy in public locations.
“I believed these catastrophes solely occurred within the films,” he wrote, earlier than happening to handle the deputies: “What goes round comes round.”
Prosecutors had beneficial a year-long jail sentence, however U.S. District Choose Percy Anderson stated that was not lengthy sufficient for Hernandez, who he stated “undermines the general public confidence in legislation enforcement, undercuts efforts to reform the division and harms the morale of the women and men who attempt to serve and defend.”
Michael D. Williamson, Hernandez’s lawyer, argued his consumer deserved a lighter sentence as a result of his culpability was “dramatically much less” than his former companion’s and since “he didn’t actively interact” in among the crimes dedicated.
“He coated up, similar to Vega did,” Anderson responded. “He had an opportunity to come back ahead on quite a few events and refused to do this.”
When Hernandez spoke at sentencing, he provided an apology to Alegria.
“My actions that day in April of 2020 had been reprehensible, flawed and unlawful,” Hernandez stated. “I hope someday Mr. Jesus Alegria can forgive me for my actions and or lack of actions that day.”
Each former deputies had been relieved of responsibility in reference to their remedy of Alegria in late 2020, by which level they’d already each been concerned in one other high-profile case, the killing of 18-year-old Andres Guardado, who was shot within the again after a foot chase. Approaching the heels of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Guardado’s dying prompted weeks of protests and ultimately led to a hefty authorized settlement.
In an emailed assertion on Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Division stated that it had cooperated with federal companies investigating the Alegria case and condemned the previous deputies’ actions.
“Actions that violate the general public’s belief and our dedication to serving our group in an moral and accountable method should not acceptable,” the assertion stated. “The Division is devoted to upholding the very best requirements of integrity and accountability and won’t settle for something much less from our workers.”
Final fall, when the previous deputies lastly admitted of their plea agreements what they’d accomplished to Alegria, their tales echoed the allegations detailed three years in the past in a Instances investigation.
On the afternoon of April 13, 2020, in response to the plea offers, Vega and Hernandez pulled as much as a bunch of younger Black males exterior a skate park in Compton. The deputies bought out of their cruiser and ordered the lads to elevate their shirts.
From contained in the skate park, 23-year-old Alegria yelled on the deputies to cease harassing the children. However Vega — who courtroom data present later admitted he was utilizing steroids and “indignant” — screamed on the skateboarder and challenged him to a combat.
Hernandez stood guard as Vega grabbed Alegria and pulled him via a gap within the fence, in response to a not too long ago filed sentencing memo. When incredulous onlookers requested what Alegria had accomplished flawed, Hernandez claimed the skateboarder had challenged his companion to a combat, the memo stated.
“Defendant knew full effectively that his assertion was false, as, actually, his companion Vega had challenged J.A. to a combat merely as a result of J.A. (appropriately) instructed the deputies to go away the younger African-American males alone,” prosecutors wrote within the memo, referring to Alegria by his initials. “Defendant additional knew that he and Vega had no lawful foundation in any respect to detain or arrest J.A. at that or any level.”
In response to courtroom filings and the deputies’ personal admissions, Vega then shoved the skateboarder into the again of the cruiser as Hernandez watched. The 2 didn’t handcuff Alegria and even ask his title.
As a substitute, in response to the memo, they “proceeded to taunt and terrorize” Alegria, threatening to beat him up, kick him out of the automobile in a gang-controlled neighborhood and inform folks on the road that he belonged to a rival group.
Then, courtroom data say, Vega hinted he and Hernandez would lie and say Alegria was on medication to justify choosing him up. In his plea settlement, Hernandez admitted that he did nothing to intervene, regardless that he didn’t imagine Alegria had been utilizing medication.
“The deputies’ taunts, threats, and bullying had been solely interrupted when Vega noticed and commenced pursuing a younger male on a bicycle down a slender alleyway within the SUV after the male purportedly had grabbed at his waistband,” prosecutors wrote within the sentencing memo.
When Vega began driving down the alley, he crashed the cruiser right into a concrete wall, then climbed out the window and instructed Alegria to go away. In response to the sentencing memo, Hernandez instructed Vega he was an “fool” for letting the skateboarder depart, as a result of it may mess up their cowl story.
In response to courtroom filings, Vega then bought on the radio and reported a person fleeing with a gun whose clothes matched what Alegria had on that day. When different deputies picked him up, they drove him to a hospital, the place Alegria stated they pressured him to signal a quotation for being underneath the affect of methamphetamine — a drug he later instructed The Instances he had “by no means even touched.”
Within the plea settlement, Hernandez admitted he instructed one other deputy on the hospital to problem the quotation regardless that he knew it wasn’t true. Then, he and Vega wrote up false studies to cowl up what had occurred.
In early 2021, Alegria sued each deputies, saying they’d fabricated the drug cost and the arrest report back to justify their reckless conduct. Final yr, the county agreed to accept $450,000.
But it surely wasn’t till April of final yr that federal authorities indicted and arrested the pair. On the time, lawyer Humberto Guizar, who represented Alegria in his lawsuit, lauded the transfer.
“I’m very happy to study that these two corrupt deputies had been arrested and charged with a federal crime,” he instructed The Instances. “Hopefully that will probably be a deterrent.”
Prosecutors stated they requested leniency for Hernandez as a result of he didn’t “spearhead the violations” to Alegria’s rights to the identical diploma as Vega and cooperated after his indictment. However in courtroom on Tuesday, Anderson faulted the previous deputy for not talking up sooner.
“He had quite a few alternatives to come back ahead to show the braveness to do what’s proper, however failed to take action,” he stated. “It is a startling instance that the cover-up is worse than the crime itself.”
Afterward, Hernandez’s lawyer referred to as the sentence “extreme.”
“To me, that takes away any incentive for future legislation enforcement officers to ever cooperate,” Williamson stated.
Neither deputy has confronted prison expenses in reference to Guardado’s killing, which occurred two months after the incident involving Alegria.
In June of 2020, Vega and Hernandez had been on patrol once they noticed Guardado speaking with somebody exterior an auto physique store. The Sheriff’s Division stated Guardado brandished a gun and bumped into an alley, and the deputies chased him. An post-mortem confirmed that Vega shot the teenager 5 occasions within the again. Vega’s lawyer stated Guardado was reaching for a gun.
The killing sparked outcry from activists and led to elevated scrutiny of the Compton sheriff’s station, which has been tormented by allegations of a deputy gang often called the Executioners. A whistleblower later claimed that Vega and Hernandez had been potential members of the group. Their attorneys denied the allegation.
In late 2020, Guardado’s household filed a lawsuit that the county ultimately settled for $8 million. In his sufferer affect assertion, Alegria remembered the slain teen.
“I hope for change, I hope for justice to be served,” Alegria wrote. “Relaxation in peace to Andres Guardado.”
