U.S. | Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:29pm EDT

Former L.A. County sheriff pleads not guilty to new federal charges

By Paula Lehman | LOS ANGELES

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges he sought to obstruct a federal corruption probe that overshadowed the final years of his tenure as chief custodian of the nation's largest county jail system.

Baca, who is 74 and suffers from Alzheimer's disease, was indicted last week on three new criminal charges after he backed out of an earlier plea agreement rather than face a sentence tougher than the six-month term a federal judge rejected as too lenient.

He entered a not guilty plea on Friday to all three new felony charges - obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to federal investigators. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Questioned by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson before entering his plea on whether he felt competent to do so, Baca replied, "My mind is clear enough, but there are circumstances where I have cloudiness in my brain, and I've had that for quite awhile."

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