Authorities say two former L.A. County sheriff's deputies have been charged for shutting off the electricity inside of a medical marijuana dispensary to plant a gun inside.
According to the Los Angeles Times, both 39-year-old Julio Cesar Martinez and 32-year-old Anthony Manuel Paez were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and altering evidence. In addition, Martinez also faces charges for filing a false report and perjury.
In 2011, Martinez and Paez claimed they were monitoring the South Los Angeles dispensary when they witnessed a drug deal, as well as a man reaching for and tossing a gun that was in his pocket. This apparently prompted them to break the law to force two arrests:
The complaint alleges Paez also planted a gun on top of an office desk, next to some ecstasy pills. At some point, Paez allegedly crawled under the desk and disabled the security camera system.
Though charges were filed against the men Martinez and Paez arrested, they were later dropped. The incident triggered an internal investigation a year later, as the video footage recovered from the dispensary wasn't consistent with the police report.
Funny how at some point they actually thought they'd get away with this.
[via Los Angeles Times]
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