A former Santa Barbara County custody deputy has been sentenced to three years probation after he was found guilty last year by a federal jury of obstruction of justice.
Christopher Johnson was one of two deputies acquitted by a federal jury after facing charges for allegedly assaulting an inmate in custody in the Santa Barbara County Jail in 2013.
Johnson and fellow deputy Robert Kirsch were each charged by the District Attorney’s Office in August 2013 with assault by a public officer, a felony, stemming from an alleged attack on a jail inmate.
The case was turned over to the FBI, and a federal indictment charged the men with assaulting and beating Charles Alonzo Owens “under color of authority, the defendants being then and there public officers” on June 17, 2013.
Owens, 25, of Lompoc, had been in custody since 2011 on a variety of serious charges, including a 2007 gang-related killing in Lompoc, and a related case involving rape and witness intimidation.
In November 2013, he was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to serve life without parole at Folsom State Prison.
Last September, a U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles acquitted the former deputies of charges of aiding and abetting as well as deprivation of rights under color of law.
Johnson, however, was convicted by the jury of obstruction of justice.
That charge stems from the allegation that he witnessed conduct by his partner that he failed to report to his supervisors.
The final sentence was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell on Monday.
The first federal trial against the former deputies occurred in June and ended in a hung jury, resulting in a mistrial.
Johnson was sentenced to three years probation, and that term will include six months of home confinement and 100 hours of community service, according to Prosecutor Bruce Riordan, assistant U.S attorney.
Johnson received a sentence of time served, which incorporates the brief time he was detained during the booking process last year, he said.
Riordan had recommended prison time for Johnson, but the judge “carefully examined all the factors of both the offense and the offender and fashioned a fair sentence,” he said.
“We accept the result.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
