LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A former Long Beach police officer arrested last year on suspicion of stealing guns that were supposed to be booked as property pleaded guilty Thursday to an embezzlement charge.

Damian Ramos, 33, entered his plea to one count of embezzlement by a public officer on the day a hearing was set to begin in Los Angeles Superior Court to determine if there was enough evidence to require him to stand trial.

Ramos — who was on the police force for five years — is expected to be sentenced April 7 to 365 days in county jail and three years formal probation, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

He was arrested Aug. 5 after an investigation by the Long Beach Police Department into missing weapons that had been given to police by a business.

“The business turned over numerous weapons to Ramos. However, the department discovered that not all of the weapons had been placed into evidence,” according to a Long Beach police statement issued last August.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)