Former Cop Sentenced in Cannabis Warehouse Robbery

An ex-Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in an October 2018 cannabis warehouse robbery, the Associated Press reports.

Using a fake search warrant to gain entry, Marc Antrim — working then as an L.A. County Deputy — posed as a Sheriff’s narcotics officer and stole nearly $650,000 in cash and over 1,000 pounds of cannabis from a downtown L.A. warehouse. Assisted by co-conspirators who were dressed as deputies complete with uniforms, service belts, and guns, the pseudo-Sheriff looted the warehouse over a two-hour period, according to the report. Additionally, Los Angeles city police were called during the robbery but the defendant convinced the responding officers he was with the Sheriff’s Narcotics department, and the police left the scene.

In their statement, the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case quoted Judge Virginia A. Phillips, saying the case was “tragic” and that it “eroded” public trust, and “sounded like a movie script.”

The seven-year sentence comes from Antrim’s 2019 guilty plea to a host of charges, including “conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana; conspiracy to deprive rights under color of law; deprivation of rights under color of law and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.”

Six others were charged in the case and received sentences ranging from 4 to 14 years in prison, according to the report.