BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — It’s been almost three years since Bakersfield Police detectives Damacio Diaz and Patrick Mara were sentenced to five years in prison for their roles in a drug ring while members of the Bakersfield Police Department.
A recently released public records request shows another officer resigned after reportedly giving false statements to detectives during their investigation into Mara and Diaz.
According to the documents, Detective Justin Lewis was interviewed two times by the Bakersfield Police Department, the FBI and the DEA in 2015. Two days after his second interview, Lewis reached back out to investigators saying he had knowledge of quote "suspicious and incriminating actions of detective Mara" that he had not shared in his prior interviews.
Former Detective Justin Lewis resigned from the Bakersfield Police Department in October 2016—the same month and year that officers Mara and Diaz received their sentences.
