Ex-LA County Sheriff's Sergeant Sentenced To Prison In Beating Of Handcuffed Man

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's sergeant was sentenced to prison Monday for encouraging deputies to beat a handcuffed man in a jail.

Eric Gonzalez, 49, was ordered to spend eight years in federal prison, according to the United States Attorney's Office
Central District of California in Los Angeles. (Editor's note: a previous version of this article incorrectly attributed the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.)

Gonzalez will have to spend three years on supervised release after serving his prison time.

He was taken into custody immediately after being sentenced.

U.S. District Judge George King said Gonzalez "abused his authority and corrupted the very system he was sworn to uphold."

In June, a jury found Gonzalez and deputies Sussie Ayala and Fernando Luviano guilty of beating jail visitor Gabriel Carrillo.

The attack occurred on Feb. 26, 2011, after Carrillo illegally brought a cell phone into the Men's Central Jail while visiting his brother, which was in violation of jail regulations.

Gonzalez, Ayala and Luviano then conspired to lie about the beating.

Two former deputies, Neal Womack and Pantamitr Zunggeemoge, have also pleaded guilty to the assault and are awaiting sentencing.

Byron Dredd, the sixth former deputy in the case, was indicted on federal charges in October for his alleged involvement in falsifying the reports.

Ayala and Luviano are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30.

Gonzalez was a 15-year veteran of the department.

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