Ex-Long Beach Officer Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Facing a preliminary hearing Thursday in a Los Angeles Superior Court, former Long Beach police officer Damian Ramos pleaded guilty to embezzlement for stealing guns that he'd been given as evidence but were never checked in.

The five-year employee of the force is expected to be sentenced April 7 to a year in county jail and three years probation, the L.A. District Attorney's Office said.

Ramos  was arrested last summer by his own department after a Long Beach police investigation allegedly found that he'd failed to submit property -- guns turned over to him by a business owner. A police department press release from that time said Ramos was arrested Aug. 5 on suspicion of stealing guns.

"The business turned over numerous weapons to Ramos. However, the department discovered that not all of the weapons had been placed into evidence,'' according to the Long Beach press statement.  Another former officer, Derrick Dinsmore, 25, was arrested last October on suspicion of receiving stolen property and being an accessory after the fact. He is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 15.

City News Service contributed to this report.