L.A. sheriff’s deputy arrested in alleged ticket-fixing scheme

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who cooperated with a federal probe of corruption claims in the Sheriff’s Department was arrested this week and is expected to be charged as part of a separate internal sheriff’s investigation into an alleged traffic-ticket-fixing scheme, authorities said Wednesday.

Edwin Tamayo, 44, was booked Tuesday afternoon on charges of receiving a bribe and conspiracy to obstruct justice before he was released on bond a few hours later, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida.

She said that sheriff’s investigators anticipated that the district attorney’s office would file charges against Tamayo as soon as Thursday and that his arraignment was scheduled for June 25. A district attorney’s office spokesman declined to comment.

Tamayo’s attorney, Jacob Glucksman, said that investigators may not know the entire story about what occurred and that his client maintains his innocence.

“He’s a longtime, loyal and decorated public servant who has performed his duties with nothing but dedication and concern for his community and others,” Glucksman said.

Tamayo, a 13-year department veteran, has been on paid leave since February 2013 pending the outcome of the internal Sheriff’s Department investigation of accusations that he fixed a traffic ticket in exchange for a bribe.

Tamayo and his attorneys told The Times last year that he wore a wire for the FBI and secretly recorded a department supervisor as part of an investigation into allegations of improper campaign fundraising.

Tamayo said FBI agents asked him to wear the wire after he told them that a captain gathered him and other subordinates at a patrol station barbecue pit and ordered them to sell tickets to a 2011 fundraiser for Carmen Trutanich’s unsuccessful bid for district attorney.

Twitter: @jackfleonard