OC Sheriff's Investigator Charged With Falsifying Application To Get Friend Hired
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) – An Orange County Sheriff's investigator and a recruit were both charged this week with falsifying information on the recruit's application in order to get him hired on as a deputy.
The two men were friends and had lived together for several years, the O.C. District Attorney's Office reported Wednesday.
Jeremy Ryan Buraglia, 33, of Anaheim Hills has been charged with two counts of false personation and one count of conspiracy to present a false background investigation file.
Mario Barragan, 34, is charged with one count of conspiracy to present a false background investigation.
Buraglia was an 11-year veteran of OCSD and an investigator with the department's Professional Standards Division.
Barragan meanwhile, in April 2015, was fired from the Pomona Police Department for violating their social media policies while still on probation with the department.
Between 2012 and 2018, he applied to become an OCSD deputy four times, all of which were rejected, the DA's office said.
However in September of 2018 – and even though the two had a long friendship which posed a serious conflict of interest -- Buraglia conducted the background investigation on Barragan's latest OCSD application. Buraglia omitted relevant information, made false statements and fabricated and altered support documents to make Barragan "look qualified to become a sworn peace officer despite his problematic past," the DA's office said in a news release.
He also forged a letter from a retired Pomona police chief.
Barragan was eventually hired and assigned to the training academy to become a deputy sheriff.
However, while still training, the sheriff's department received a tip about Barragan's past, which prompted them to investigate.
Barragan has since been fired, while Buraglia remains on administrative leave, prosecutors said.
"Unfortunately, there are those who are not worthy of wearing that badge – and holding that public trust," O.C. DA Todd Spitzer said in a statement. "The background process is designed to weed out bad actors who have no business having a career in law enforcement. The manipulation of the background process by a sworn peace officer tarnishes the badge and erodes the public trust. It will not be tolerated and it will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
If convicted as charged, Buraglia faces a maximum sentence of a little over four years in prison, while Barragan faces three years.
