Paul Tanaka, shown in 2014, surrendered to authorities May 14, 2015, after being indicted by a federal grand jury investigating excessive force and corruption in L.A. County jails. (Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

A jury Wednesday convicted former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges.

Over the years, as Tanaka climbed the ranks of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, he built a reputation for being a tough, overbearing leader who inspired equal parts fear and respect.

By the time he retired in 2013 amid a growing scandal, Tanaka was the second-in-command, running the day-to-day operations of the nation’s largest Sheriff’s Department and holding as much or more sway than his boss, Sheriff Lee Baca.

But for the last two weeks in a downtown federal courtroom, Tanaka has denied charges that he impeded an FBI investigation, portraying himself in a very different light: as a supervisor who was unaware of what others around him were doing.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.

Former LASD Undersheriff Paul Tanaka has been found guilty of two obstruction of justice counts. Sentencing has been set for June 20. — US Attorney L.A. (@USAO_LosAngeles) April 6, 2016

34.052234 -118.243685