allegations of abuse, misconduct and mismanagement in County jails. Although his decision to resign was portrayed as being under his volition, Baca told Tanaka to step down because Tanaka had become a political liability. Plot to hide informant The plot to derail the federal investigation of the LASD supposedly began in August 2011, when Sheriff deputies retrieved a mobile phone from an inmate at Men’s Central Jail and were able to connect the phone to the FBI. Discovering that the inmate-turned-FBI informant was Anthony Brown, deputies had purposely hidden Brown from his FBI handlers, by moving him around different jails and changing Brown's name. Criminal charges On May 13, 2015, Tanaka was indicted on federal conspiracy and obstruction charges in the ongoing Los Angeles County Men's Jail corruptions investigation. Tanaka was the eighth LASD official to be criminally charged based on actions taken in the summer of 2011. Conviction On April 6, 2016, Tanaka was convicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges by a federal jury in a case presided over by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. "The criminal charges centered on allegations that in 2011 Tanaka orchestrated a scheme to derail the FBI's jail investigation by intimidating the lead agent in the case, pressuring deputies not to cooperate and concealing the whereabouts of an inmate who was working as a federal informant." As a result, Councilman Mark E. Henderson was appointed Mayor Pro Tem and served as acting Mayor of Gardena until the March 2017 election. Sentencing On June 27, 2016, Tanaka was sentenced to five years in prison, for civil rights abuses inside the nation's largest urban jail system. He was also sentenced to serve two years of supervised release after he is discharged from prison and pay a $7,500 fine. He faced a maximum of 15 years in federal prison. Tanaka planned to file a motion to sidestep his Aug. 1 jail surrender deadline and remain out on bail while he appeals his conviction. He surrendered Monday, January 16, 2017, to federal authorities in Colorado to begin serving the prison sentence at a minimum-security camp in Englewood, Colorado. He was released on April 19, 2021. 2014 Sheriff's campaign On August 15, 2013, Tanaka announced his candidacy to unseat his former boss, Lee Baca, as the Sheriff in the 2014 election. Tanaka lost the election to Jim McDonnell, McDonnell received 49.4 percent of the vote and Tanaka