Deputy Arrested in Fraud Scheme

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Thursday arrested a deputy who investigators allege is the ringleader in two credit card scams uncovered by the department last spring.

David Osorio, 31, was arrested at his home in Gardena and was being held on $50,000 bail, authorities said. He is being held on four felony counts: two counts of grand theft and two counts of commercial burglary.

The charges involve Osorio’s alleged use of stolen credit cards. He is expected to be arraigned Monday.

Osorio and 10 other Sheriff’s Department employees were relieved of duty in May after a seven-month internal investigation allegedly linked them to a credit card fraud scheme. Osorio, however, was alleged to be the leader and to be involved in another, separate fraud ring.

Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Pippin, who led the investigation, said Thursday the charges against the deputy stem from that separate scam that apparently did not involve the other department employees.

The investigation of the department employees, who remain on paid leave, is ongoing and active, Pippin said. Investigators have identified others, unconnected to the department, who they believe also were involved.

But some observers close to the Sheriff’s Department say the length of time between the employees’ being relieved of duty in May and the lack of criminal charges against them leads to questions about whether they will, in fact, be charged.

Pippin tried to address those concerns Thursday.

“I anticipate we’ll be filing charges and arresting a majority of the individuals who are departmental members,” Pippin said. Those not arrested probably will face an internal affairs inquiry, Pippin said.

“If we exonerate someone, we exonerate someone,” Pippin said. “We are looking at all sides of this.”

Authorities believe Osorio and the other employees who worked at Twin Towers jail knowingly used stolen credit cards to obtain cash from bank machines.

A departmental sting operation included feeding the employees the supposedly stolen cards and then videotaping them as they withdrew cash from bank machines.

Osorio also is alleged to have run another fraud ring that could have netted him far more money, authorities say.

Since his activities were off-duty, his lawyers will not be paid by the deputies’ union.

Osorio was described by officials as shocked by his arrest Thursday morning. One said he had tears in his eyes as he was handcuffed.