Federal prosecutors filed their first criminal charge in the ongoing investigation of deputy misconduct in the Los Angeles County jails, saying that an ex-guard has agreed to plead guilty to felony bribery and is cooperating with the FBI.
The case involves former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Gilbert Michel, who admitted smuggling a cellphone and other contraband into Men's Central Jail last year for an inmate who promised him a total of $20,000. Michel, 38, didn't know that the inmate was an informant helping the FBI and that the person who eventually handed him money was an undercover agent, reports the Los Angeles Times.