Ex-Inglewood police officer to plead guilty to distributing cocaine
A former Inglewood Police officer has agreed to plead guilty to distributing cocaine stolen from the department's evidence lockup, the U.S.Attorney's Office said on Thursday.
John Abel Baca, 47, a Whittier resident, admitted on Thursday to distributing cocaine on two occasions during his 21-year career with the Inglewood Police Department, according to a news release.
The first instance occurred in April 2021, when he delivered cocaine to a witness cooperating with law enforcement; and the second in May 2021 when Baca delivered approximately one kilogram of cocaine to the same witness in exchange for cash, prosecutors said.
Baca obtained approval in 2016 for the cooperating witness, Gerardo Ekonomo, of South Los Angeles, to work as a confidential source, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
In February 2021, Ekonomo informed the FBI that Baca, who was an active Inglewood police officer at the time, had previously offered to sell him one kilogram of cocaine, two kilograms of “White China” heroin, and an unlimited supply of black tar heroin, the indictment said. He reported that Baca claimed to have stolen drugs and cash during routine traffic stops that Baca made as a drug task force officer with Inglewood Police.
Baca provided a sample of the cocaine to Ekonomo meant to be distributed to potential buyers in April 2021 during a covertly recorded meeting, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Days later, he negotiated the price for one kilogram of cocaine — $22,000 in cash — and then delivered a brick of cocaine to Ekonomo's workplace in May of 2021. Baca later that day collected $22,000 in cash from Ekonomo's residence.
Ekonomo had been arrested in June 2021 by North Las Vegas police after heroin was found in his vehicle, according to the indictment. Baca was accused of asking a North Las Vegas police officer about Ekonomo's status and offered that he could “work off” the case by cooperating; however, no documents proved Ekonomo helped in any operations, prosecutors said.
Following Baca's arrest in October 2021, Inglewood Police officers executed a search warrant at Ekonomo's residence in South Los Angeles and found nearly three pounds of heroin and about a pound of cocaine wrapped in packages and buried in his yard, a separate indictment said.
The drugs were packaged similarly to the three bags of heroin that were seized during Ekonomo's arrest in Las Vegas, according to prosecutors.
Ekonomo was taken into custody on Oct. 29, 2021.
Baca agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of cocaine and will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is free on a $1.1 million bond and is expected to formally plead guilty on October 17.
Ekonomo faces one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin. His trial is scheduled to begin in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana on December 12.