L.A. Co. Deputies Arrested for Breaking into MJ Dispensary and Planting Guns to Justify Arrest

[SeanTX]

Yet another isolated incident.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2zl9QXIF5

Ex-deputies allegedly cut power, cameras to plant guns in pot clinic


By Kate Mather

April 23, 2014, 2:01 p.m.

Two former L.A. County sheriff's deputies allegedly turned off the electricity and a security camera system inside a medical marijuana dispensary as they planted guns they used to justify two arrests, according to court documents.

Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, have been charged with two felony counts of conspiring to obstruct justice and altering evidence, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Martinez faces two additional felony counts of perjury and filing a false report.

Prosecutors said the men, who are scheduled to be arraigned June 17, each face more than seven years in state prison if convicted. The Sheriff's Department did not immediately comment on the allegations.

According to a complaint filed by prosecutors last week, Martinez claimed he saw a man take part in a drug deal and reach for a gun in his shorts pocket. The deputy said he then saw the man discard the gun near a trash bin inside the dispensary.

Before he got a search warrant, Martinez kicked a wall outlet and shut down power to the room, according to the complaint. Paez then allegedly opened a drawer, pulled out a gun and put it on a chair.

The complaint alleges Paez also planted a gun on top of an office desk, next to some ecstasy pills. At some point, Paez allegedly crawled under the desk and disabled the security camera system.

Prosecutors said the deputies claimed in their report of the incident they found one gun near the trash can and the other on the desk.

The deputies arrested two men: one for possession of an unregistered gun and the second for possession of a controlled substance while armed with a gun. Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said charges were filed against the men but later dropped.

snip

[Origanalist]

Yet another isolated incident.

There seems to be a rash of those lately.....

[Anti Federalist]

Not intentionally malevolent.

[SeanTX]

Found this little tidbit in the comments -- if true it sounds like teaching deputies to disrespect the citizenry is part of their basic training at the academy :

itgoesforfun
Rank 30895

LASD doesn't care. My favorite is when the recruits training in South Whittier run through neighborhoods in the morning yelling "wake up L.A. County". What the eff is that about? Complaints about that go nowhere. Bet if you did that to a Sheriff sleeping in the AM from a night shift the S will hit the fan.

[MaiNiaK]

I was half expecting to see that the 2 officers got a paid vacation..!!

[Mani]

You mean to tell me Officers are against MJ?

No, say it ain't so!

They always just "ENFORCE THE LAW" and shrug their shoulders and say, "Hey...I have no problem with MJ, but it's against the law..I'm just doing my job...if you don't like the law..change it."


If that's what the say..then why would they be planting evidence against weed growers and....Oh wait...Coz what they say is PURE BULL$#@!.

[SeanTX]

Yes, MJ and the war on it is probably the main thing that has built up the US police state. No way are they just going to quietly allow it to be legalized.

Where it is (somewhat) legalized, they will just find creative new ways to go after people over it (make a big deal out of people driving under the influence of it, strict enforcement of taxes on it, etc).

[unknown]

Prosecutors described the men as former deputies, but it remains unclear when they left the department. Martinez and Paez were each arrested Friday and released later that day on $50,000 bail.

The headline makes it sound as though they were former cops when they were planting evidence.

Seems like they were active duty police while committing the crimes.

Looks like theres still a question as to whether or not they're still employed as cops?

[tasteless]

I'm sure the court system will give them the strictest penalty allowed under the law

[nobody's_hero]

I'm sure the court system will give them the strictest penalty allowed under the law

At least a citation for bravery. I mean, that one cop could have bumped his head when he crawled under the desk to disable the security system.

[tod evans]

Yes, MJ and the war on it is probably the main thing that has built up the US police state. No way are they just going to quietly allow it to be legalized.

Where it is (somewhat) legalized, they will just find creative new ways to go after people over it (make a big deal out of people driving under the influence of it, strict enforcement of taxes on it, etc).

So many POS tax-ticks make their living from drugs being illegal/controlled....

Society really can't afford to carry their weight any longer.

[Henry Rogue]

The headline makes it sound as though they were former cops when they were planting evidence.

Seems like they were active duty police while committing the crimes.

Looks like theres still a question as to whether or not they're still employed as cops?

Had the same question. The media is complicit when it comes to cops.

[tod evans]

Had the same question. The media is complicit when it comes to cops.

The "Just-Us" departments propaganda arm....

[jtap]

Terrible reporting (as expected). Were the ecstasy pills already there? Why plant the guns then and why were all the charges dropped? Shouldn't there still be a drug charge for the x? Just glossing over that info is bizarre.

[CPUd]

Yes, MJ and the war on it is probably the main thing that has built up the US police state. No way are they just going to quietly allow it to be legalized.

Where it is (somewhat) legalized, they will just find creative new ways to go after people over it (make a big deal out of people driving under the influence of it, strict enforcement of taxes on it, etc).

They will have to start pulling more people over for driving too slow.

[tod evans]

Terrible reporting (as expected). Were the ecstasy pills already there? Why plant the guns then and why were all the charges dropped? Shouldn't there still be a drug charge for the x? Just glossing over that info is bizarre.

Guns-n-drugs opens the door for federal prosecution....

[asurfaholic]

The "Just-Us" departments propaganda arm....

Exactly... Yesterday I was listening to lex and terry and they brought up the NYPussyD hash tag thing. Aaaand they went to bat for the PD. saying it was a good idea and all that.

No mention of the overwhelming police brutality. No

This is why I support ben swann need more honest journalism to become "mainstream."