Latest: Corruption and Money Laundering.

Ex-Los Angeles Sheriff Hit With Stiffer Corruption Charges.

FILE - This Jan. 7, 2014 file photo shows Los Angeles
 County Sheriff Lee Baca announces
 his retirement at a news conference at
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau in Monte

Former Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca was indicted Friday on charges of obstructing justice and conspiring with underlings to derail a federal investigation into corruption and beatings in the nation's largest jail system.

The charges that carry up to 20 years in prison come just days after Baca withdrew a guilty plea to lying to investigators and said he would go to trial to "set the record straight" before he is incapacitated by Alzheimer's disease.

Baca, 74, made the decision knowing federal prosecutors were likely to bring stiffer charges, but his lawyers said he didn't have much choice when negotiations collapsed after a federal judge rejected a plea deal as too lenient. That agreement called for no more than six months behind bars.

Defense lawyer Michael Zweiback said it appeared the judge was seeking several years in prison, and Baca needed certainty because his condition has already started to deteriorate.

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