FBI informant who reported abuse in LA jails getting $1M payout

A convicted bank robber-turned-FBI informant who reported abuse in Los Angeles County jails will receive a payout of $1 million from the county, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Informant Anthony Brown’s reports to the FBI resulted in a federal investigation into the L.A. County sheriff’s office, culminating in the convictions of 22 sheriff’s deputies and a number of other high-ranking officials.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the settlement with Brown on Tuesday.

“Men’s Central Jail was run very, very poorly, and deliberately,” said Stuart Miller, one of Brown’s attorneys. “The prisoners there were subjected to random brutal beatings — it was completely out of control.”

An FBI handler met with Brown weekly to receive reports of corrupt and brutal deputies in the jail.

One undercover FBI agent bribed a jailer with $1,500 to smuggle a cellphone and other items to Brown from outside the jail.

Sheriff’s officials were convicted of abuse after a cover-up operation in 2011 where they prevented Brown from reporting conditions to the FBI, referred to by the sheriff’s office as “Operation Pandora’s Box.” The operation was reported by the Times in 2013.

Brown was labeled with various false names in order to be moved between jails. He was placed in solitary confinement and was denied medical treatment.

Brown was constantly monitored by 13 or more sheriff’s deputies to prevent him from interacting with the FBI.

“He was kidnapped for 18 days,” Miller said of Brown. “He thought he was going to die.”

Brown filed a lawsuit after the incident citing cruel and unusual punishment and retaliation.

Prominent officials convicted in the case included former sheriff Lee Baca and former undersheriff Paul Tanaka.

Baca was sentenced to three years in prison after a jury found that he oversaw the cover-up operation and subsequently lied about his role to federal prosecutors.

Brown will use the payout to support his family and fight the length of his 400-year sentence, according to Miller.