LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's sergeant was sent to federal prison Monday for leading the beating of a handcuffed jail visitor four years ago.
Eric Gonzalez, 49, was sentenced to eight years followed by three years of supervised release, the United States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said.
Gonzalez, a former sergeant and 15-year veteran of the LA County Sheriff's Department, was immediately taken into custody after sentencing.
U.S. District Judge George King said the former sergeant "abused his authority and corrupted the very system he was sworn to uphold."
The beating of Gabriel Carrillo occurred in 2011 when he violated jail regulations and brought a cell phone into the Men's Central Jail, where he went to visit his brother.
At some point after Carrillo was cuffed for the violation, Gonzalez encouraged sheriff's deputies Sussie Ayala, Fernando Luviano, Neal Womack and Pantamitr Zunggeemoge to beat Carrillo.
In June, a jury found Gonzalez, Ayala and Luviano guilty of the beating and conspiring to lie about it. Ayala and Luviano were scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 30. Womack and Zunggeemoge pleaded guilty to assault and awaits sentencing.
"I'm glad he's losing his power," Carrillo told KABC-TV Monday. "He had too much power. He abused his power and he wanted to show his power."
The sixth former deputy involved in the case, Byron Dredd was indicted in October on federal charges for allegedly falsifying reports about the incident.
