Local News in Brief : Jailhouse Informant Arrested in Raid

Veteran jailhouse informant Leslie Vernon White, who last week failed to appear for sentencing in a purse-snatching case, has been arrested during a drug raid on a downtown Los Angeles motel where he was staying, one of White’s attorneys said Monday.

White told his lawyers that he missed his court appearance last Thursday because he had been beaten by unidentified gang members who had marked him as a “snitch,” said Mark Geragos, who represents White. “He said he was hiding because he was afraid for his life,” Geragos said.

White, whose $10,000 bail in the purse-snatching case was forfeited after he failed to appear, was arrested Saturday on a no-bail warrant.

Last fall, White prompted a major investigation of Los Angeles County criminal cases in which informants have testified after he demonstrated to authorities that he could, through various ruses, convincingly fabricate a murder confession from an inmate he had never met.

Geragos said White will appear in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for the purse-snatching. “He’s not going anywhere now,” the lawyer said.