Paul Tanaka

Paul Tanaka is an American former politician and a former law-enforcement officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He was convicted April 4, 2016, in Federal Court of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. Tanaka served as Undersheriff of Los Angeles County from 2011 to 2013. He was also mayor of the City of Gardena, California. His tenure has provoked controversy due to allegations of violence and corruption.

On April 6, 2016, Tanaka was convicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges by a federal jury in a case presided over by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. "The criminal charges centered on allegations that in 2011 Tanaka orchestrated a scheme to derail the FBI's jail investigation by intimidating the lead agent in the case, pressuring deputies not to cooperate and concealing the whereabouts of an inmate who was working as a federal informant." As a result, Councilman Mark E. Henderson was appointed Mayor Pro Tem and served as acting Mayor until the March 2017 election.

On June 27, 2016, Tanaka was sentenced to five years in prison, for civil rights abuses inside the nation's largest urban jail system. He was also sentenced to serve two years of supervised release after he is discharged from prison and pay a $7,500 fine. He faced a maximum of 15 years in federal prison. Tanaka planned to file a motion to sidestep his Aug. 1 jail surrender deadline and remain out on bail while he appeals his conviction. He surrendered Monday, January 16, 2017, to federal authorities in Colorado to begin serving the prison sentence at a minimum-security camp in Englewood, Colorado.