By Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- A former Los Angeles police officer was sentenced to 15 years in prison on federal drug and firearm charges.
Ruben Palomares, 33, apologized to the government and his family Wednesday for “the worst thing in my life” before receiving the minimum penalty for trafficking cocaine and carrying a firearm.
Palomares, who worked in the Los Angeles Police Department’s scandal-ridden Rampart Division, and four other officers were arrested in Chula Vista, about 10 miles south of San Diego, in June 2001 after trying to buy more than 20 pounds of cocaine from an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
After his arrest, Palomares was suspended and eventually fired. He pleaded guilty to the drug and firearm charges last year.
The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Palomares is also under investigation in another case in which he is suspected of running a robbery network with friends, relatives and other police officers who stole drugs, money and property in home-invasion style robberies, sometimes while wearing police uniforms and using police squad cars.
Neither Assistant District Attorney Randy Jones nor Palomares’ attorney, David Bartick, would comment on that probe.