Oh how the tables have turned for “America’s Sheriff” Mike Carona.  He’ll be just another prisoner in our messed up prison system soon enough:

Mike Carona’s fall from “America’s Sheriff” to convicted felon reached bottom Monday as a federal judge gave Orange County’s former top law enforcement officer a half-hour lecture about honesty before sentencing him to 5 1/2 years in prison for attempting to obstruct a grand jury investigation.

“I need a sheriff I can trust,” U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford told Carona. “Lying will not be tolerated in this courtroom, especially by the county’s highest-ranking law enforcement officer.” (LAT 4/28/09)

The bluster and pomposity that was the Mike Carona experience has now been replaced by former LA County deputy sheriff and FBI Academy GraduateSheriff-Coroner Sandra Hutchens.

Orange County is better off with Ms. Hutchens as Sheriff, although I imagine these will be some hard days for Carona.  He does not have a lot of fans in the prisons.