A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy charged earlier this year in a traffic ticket-fixing case was sentenced Tuesday to 400 hours of community service and three years probation.
Edwin Allan Tamayo, 43, was also required to resign from the sheriff’s department as a result of his Sept. 10 plea to one felony count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
If he successfully completes the terms of his sentence, Tamayo can ask that the charge be reduced to a misdemeanor.
Eight other counts against him were dismissed as a result of his plea.
Tamayo — who was assigned to the sheriff’s Lost Hills station before he resigned Aug. 19 — managed to fix tickets by removing them before they were filed in court and took court notices from a colleague’s office mailbox without the deputy’s knowledge, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The prosecution has alleged that Tamayo was compensated on at least two occasions by friends or acquaintances for his actions and that he was paid at least $1,000 by a driver in one instance to get rid of three tickets in 2012.
Tamayo was put on paid leave in February 2013 when the sheriff’s department launched an internal investigation.
He was arrested June 3 in San Diego, released on a $25,000 bond and charged two days later.
“I’m glad that this worked out favorably to all parties involved,” Tamayo’s attorney, Jacob Glucksman, said outside court.
— City News Service