LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Ex-Deputy Gets 16 Years in Drug Money Scandal
Calling him a “dishonest and evil” man, U.S. District Judge Laughlin E. Waters sentenced Macario M. Duran, a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, to more than 16 years in prison this week in a continuing drug money skimming scandal.
The sentence for Duran, 47, of Northridge, was the longest yet given to any of the 25 former sheriff’s deputies or deputies’ family members convicted in the matter. Duran was found guilty in February after a four-month trial on three counts of stealing money seized in drug investigations, conspiracy to commit perjury before a federal grand jury, tax evasion, two counts of aiding and abetting perjury, submitting false documents on a loan application, and attempting to possess and distribute 66 pounds of cocaine for a $6-million profit.
The judge, saying he had never seen a more corrupt defendant, declared that Duran apparently spent most of his time as a deputy working to undermine the system he had sworn to uphold.
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