Los Angeles sheriff's deputies found guilty in jail beating

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and a sergeant were found guilty Wednesday in the backroom beating of a jail visitor who fellow guards testified already was handcuffed on the ground and covered in blood.

Sgt. Eric Gonzalez and Deputy Sussie Ayala were found guilty of conspiracy to violate constitutional rights, deprivation of rights and falsification of records in the 2011 beating of Gabriel Carrillo.

[...] they both reached plea agreements with prosecutors and testified during trial that Carrillo was handcuffed during the entire beating, and that everyone who was there agreed to tell the same lie about what happened.

"The punches were retaliation and intended to inflict pain, and were made because defendant Womack thought he could get away with such action," according to a statement as part of Womack's plea agreement.

Gonzalez "encouraged and tolerated abuses of the law," including unreasonable searches and seizures, unlawful arrests, unjustified force and falsified reports, according to the indictment.