Well it's not quite "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", but L.A. County Undersheriff to Sheriff Baca was sentenced to five years in federal prison prison on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

Hat tip to Capital and Main http://capitalandmain.com for the article at KPCC Public Radio:

Paul Tanaka, former No. 2 official at LA County Sheriff's Department, gets 5 years in prison, out as Gardena mayor

http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/06/27/62016/paul-tanaka-former-no2-at-la-s...

Yeah, you read that right. Tanaka was required to give up his seat as Mayor of Gardena for conspiracy to beat the holy crap out of L.A. County Inmates and County Sheriff supervisors:

While Tanaka was previously convicted, under state law, it’s his sentencing that triggers a requirement that he give up any elected office he might hold.

Tanaka was mayor of Gardena for 12 years. The Gardena City Council must appoint a new mayor or call a special election within 60 days.

Technically speaking the federal charges were far more mundane:

He fostered a culture in the Sheriff’s Department that led to the abuse of untold numbers of prisoners,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker, who oversaw Tanaka’s prosecution. She said her office has closed its investigation into the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department after winning 21 convictions of current or former members of the agency on charges ranging from corruption to inmate abuse.

A few radical malcontents take a harsher view of Tanaka's crimes:

A federal judge described the Vikings as a “neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang” when awarding a class action settlement of $9 million associated with racially motivated violence. Many Vikings went on to take high ranking positions in the department—including several of Baca’s top aides—and have since encouraged the proliferation of cliques throughout the county.

Paul Tanaka, who was Baca’s second in command, is a Viking himself and still sports their gang tattoo on the inside of his left ankle. Tanaka ruled the day to day functioning of the department through his influence with similar cliques and his encouragement of them—often in direct opposition to their immediate supervisors. Eventually, Tanaka took control of Internal Affairs, a group within the sheriff’s department that Tanaka had repeatedly criticized for attempts to check police brutality and corruption.

https://www.liberationnews.org/los-angeles-county-sheriffs-html/

Well county jail was never intended to be a joy ride, now was it? How bad was it?

The Sheriff’s own gang unit became the Jump Out Boys and seven members of the gang were fired by Baca after a controversial membership pamphlet was discovered that romanticized rogue behavior. The Jump Out Boys also came under fire for their tattoo depicting a red-eyed skull with a bony hand over a revolver—to which they add smoke over the barrel once they earn their stripes by shooting someone. Some of these various gang cliques even get the number 998 tattooed on themselves—the call for an officer-involved shooting—and have a series of gang signs.

So quite naturally, Tanaka's lawyers are really ticked off at such a severe sentence:

(jump back to KPCC article)

Baca, who pled guilty to lying to federal investigators, is due for sentencing July 11. Prosecutors have asked for six months in prison.

Tanaka’s attorneys have been livid about Baca potentially receiving such a relatively light sentence.

Dean Steward, Tanaka’s attorney, said the judge “went overboard” in his remarks about the defendant.

“Others have tried to demonize our client and the judge rolled with that,” he said.

Tanaka plans to appeal his conviction and sentence. Steward said the appeal will focus on the fact that Anderson would not grant Baca immunity in order to testify during Tanaka’s trial.

With the holiday weekend approaching, all I can add is God bless America! Is this a great country or what?