3 Agents Plead Guilty in DEA Corruption Case
Three of five defendants in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s corruption case in Los Angeles have pleaded guilty to charges.
Last week, two men pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. They were former DEA Agent Wayne Countryman, 47, of Walnut, to participating in a narcotics conspiracy and tax evasion, and Sherman Lair, 39, of Alta Loma, to a narcotics conspiracy. Countryman faces up to 25 years in prison and fines of $4.1 million; Lair, a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $4-million fine.
On Aug. 9, DEA Agent John Jackson, 40, of Claremont, pleaded guilty to three counts, including drug trafficking.
Another DEA agent, Darnell Garcia, 43, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was expected to go ahead with a trial, scheduled for Oct. 9. Also indicted by a federal grand jury in 1988 was Jackson’s wife, Barbara, 42, who was charged with money laundering and tax-related offenses.
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