LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles County deputy has agreed to plead guilty to illegally building an assault rifle, the first plea agreement among 20 officials charged or indicted in an ongoing federal investigation of the Sheriff’s Department.
Richard White Piquette admitted in federal court documents that he manufactured a Noveske Rifleworks N-4 .223-caliber rifle with an 8-inch barrel, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday (https://lat.ms/1kbqGEQ ).
Piquette could formally enter his plea as early as this week and could face up to 10 years in prison.
The deputy also admitted possessing other guns, including banned assault weapons. He was not charged with crimes in connection with those weapons, but his admission could affect his sentence.
Piquette’s attorney, Ronald Hedding, told the Times that his client is a good man from a law enforcement family and that many deputies possess weapons like the one he built.
“A lot of these criminals are carrying these types of weapons on the street,” Hedding said.
Under the plea deal, federal prosecutors dropped a separate charge and Piquette must resign from the Sheriff’s Department.
Piquette served at Twin Towers Correctional Facility, the downtown jail at the center of a sheriff-run jail system that has been riddled with investigations and lawsuits and led to federal indictments in January against 20 department officials, including Piquette.
His charges were among the most minor in the indictments, with many of the others alleging officials beat inmates and jail visitors, falsified reports and tried to obstruct an FBI investigation.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, https://www.latimes.com
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