LOS ANGELES — A deputy charged with smuggling heroin inside a burrito into a courthouse jail was initially kicked out of the Sheriff’s Department training academy after a bumbling performance that was captured by Fox TV cameras for a reality show, a newspaper reported Friday.
Henry Marin later returned to the academy and became a deputy. But during his first attempt in 2007, he was quickly tagged as the class slacker on the show “The Academy” after supervisors caught him sleeping during orientation, the Los Angeles Times said.
“If he doesn’t have the discipline to come here on Day 1 and show some respect, he’s certainly not gonna have the discipline to work in the field of law enforcement,” a drill sergeant said on the show.
“What is wrong with you recruit?” another drill sergeant said when Marin showed up with a backward tie.
Marin’s arrest on Wednesday was the latest of many misconduct allegations against the Los Angeles County department, including brutality against inmates and contraband smuggling. The department, the FBI and others are investigating.
During a training exercise filmed by Fox, Marin failed to call for help and forgot the radio code for an emergency after a suicidal woman pulled a gun. A similar mishap led to his dismissal.
“You seem to have no knowledge or understanding of the laws that guide you and allow you to do certain things,” a sergeant on the show told Marin after his ouster.
He was later allowed to enroll again and graduated, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
“He certainly wasn’t one of our best,” Whitmore told the Times.
Marin, 27, pleaded not guilty to charges of bringing drugs into jail and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Prosecutors said a woman came to the South Los Angeles courthouse where Marin was assigned to provide security and delivered a heroin-stuffed bean and cheese burrito that he agreed to take into the jail in February of last year.
Marin was released from custody after posting $25,000 bail and has been relieved of deputy duty without pay. He’s due back in court Feb. 12. His attorney declined comment when reached by the Times.
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