KING CITY, Calif. —Police Sgt.
Mark Baker became the first officer arrested in a King City corruption scandal
to enter a no contest plea.
According to the warrant,
Kenneth Tippery is a registered sex offender, has been the King City Police
Department's IT manager for over two decades, and helped Sgt. Bobby Carrillo
illegally gain secret, remote access to the KCPD network.
Baker, 45, of Paso Robles,
agreed to a plea deal with the Monterey County District Attorney on Wednesday.
Prosecutors dropped a charge of making criminal threats in exchange for Baker
pleading no contest to false imprisonment.
He will be sentenced on March
18 and faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail. Baker must serve five
years of probation and cannot possess firearms.
Baker has been on paid
administrative leave since he was arrested in February. When asked if Baker
will be removed from the police force because he cannot have a gun, Assistant
District Attorney Steve Somers said that decision is up to the KCPD.
"In a practical sense, he
can no longer be a peace officer. It's a requirement for a police officer to
have a gun in order to do his job. I'm not saying what the King City Police
Department will do," Somers said.
The district attorney said the
investigation into Baker stemmed from an Aug. 19, 2013 incident when Baker's
personal truck was stolen and stripped for parts.
Three days later, while Baker
was in uniform and on duty, he decided to go find the thief who stole his
truck. He found a suspect in a King City motel.
"(Baker) confronted him
and threatened him by telling him that he was going to 'make him disappear, and
not to jail.' (Baker) was in uniform and armed when he made this threat. The
victim, believing the threat, then confessed to possessing the items stolen
from (Baker's) truck. Baker gave him two hours to return the items, including
$40 for the gas used after the truck was stolen," the District Attorney's
Office wrote.
After Baker got his stuff back,
he never made an arrest, or filed a police report.
Currently, nearly 40 percent of
the King City police force is on paid administrative leave, and the city is
being patrolled by 11 sworn officers.
The six officers arrested in
the February bust were: Baker, Sgt. Bobby Carrillo, then-Police Chief Bruce
Miller, former Police Chief Nick Baldiviez, Officer Mario Mottu, Sr., and
Officer Jaime Andrade. Miller's brother, Brian Miller, was also arrested.
Andrade is so far the only
officer who has been fired by King City. He was fired by City Manager Michael
Powers because of an internal investigation conducted by the city.
Prosecutor Doug Matheson said
the investigation into Andrade was spurred when Andrade's stepson, 17-year-old
Anthony Ramirez, was arrested by Salinas police in July 2013 for illegally
possessing Andrade's handgun. Andrade was charged with two felonies: illegal
storage of a firearm and illegal possession of an assault weapon.
Carrillo, both Millers,
Baldiviez, Mottu, and Andrade pleaded not guilty and are waiting for their
trials to begin.