Former LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Pleads to Filing False Report About a Marijuana Dispensary.

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy pleaded no contest today to filing a false report from a 2011 incident at a marijuana dispensary, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Julio Cesar Martinez (dob 12/12/74) entered his plea to one felony count of false report filed by a peace officer. He must complete 300 hours of community service per the plea agreement by April 16, 2021. Deputy District Attorney Rachel Greene of the Justice System Integrity Division prosecuted the case. Martinez and fellow ex-sheriff’s deputy Anthony Manuel Paez (dob 3/06/82) were charged in April 2014. Both men were accused of conspiring to alter evidence and write false reports claiming they saw a drug deal and observed an armed suspect while on patrol in South Los Angeles on Aug. 24, 2011. Martinez said he followed one suspect inside a medical marijuana dispensary where they discovered a discarded firearm near a trash bin and another firearm on top of a desk next to ecstasy pills. Two men were arrested by the deputies. A year later, the sheriff’s Internal Criminal Investigation Bureau launched an investigation and found a video recorded inside the dispensary that was inconsistent with statements made by Martinez in his reports. Following the plea, Paez’s case was dismissed in the interest of justice, prosecutors said. Case BA423669 was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.