Ex-Officer Who Admitted Burglary Gets Probation

The final chapter of the 1982 scandal that rocked the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department ended today when a judge decided against a prison term for a former police officer who became a prosecution witness after admitting that he had committed more than 100 burglaries.

Officer Ronald L. Venegas, 36, who had pleaded guilty to one break-in, was given a 16-month suspended sentence and placed on three months’ probation by Superior Court Judge Clarence A. Stromwall. Under terms of the plea bargain, Venegas had been allowed to choose his own sentencing judge.

Although criminal or administrative charges were filed against 12 officers accused of participating in the burglary ring, none of the suspects ever went to jail. And despite Venegas’ court testimony, none of the four former officers whose cases actually went to trial were convicted.

A major problem for the prosecution was that early in the case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jay Lipman called Venegas a liar in a court hearing. Lipman, however, later said he came to believe that Vengas’ testimony was credible.