SACRAMENTO, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A California sheriff faces up to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud.
Baxter Dunn resigned as sheriff of San Joaquin County as part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the Sacramento Bee reported. He also agreed to testify agasint Monte McFall, a longtime friend and alleged ringleader in the scheme to extort payoffs from developers seeking to do business in the county.
"In my 38 years in law enforcement, I have always felt the highest respect for the court and the rule of law, and I am profoundly sorry for my conduct," Dunn told a federal judge Thursday in Sacramento.
Dunn is to be sentenced in March on his 58th birthday.
Also Thursday, former County Supervisor Lynn Bedford pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents. He faces up to a year in prison.
Dunn's indictment in 2003 followed a two-year federal investigation into corruption in the Stockton area.
